


Bella Swan, the Teenage Witch

by Raggetymanftw



Series: Bella Has Always Been Deadly [2]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: And Carlisle is a gentleman first and foremost, Badass Bella, Bamf!Bella, Bella has a backbone, Bella is still a baby, Bella swears, F/M, I mean Bella is still human, No Smut, Soulmates, Unreliable Narrator, but mostly in her head, but no sex, but you know theres a connection, maybe just a little teen fantasy, more of a backbone than smeyer gives her, no matter how hot Dr Sexy is, not quite love at first sight, slowest of slow burns, technically this is underage, witch!Bella
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 23
Words: 42,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raggetymanftw/pseuds/Raggetymanftw
Summary: Hey, so I hated the first two chapters that I wrote, so instead of forcing myself to continue writing something I wasn't really enjoying, I thought I would just start again. The other story has been deleted. This story will still be similar, since they're following the same premise, this one will just be better written. Thank you for your patience, it means a lot if you're still here <3
Relationships: Bella Swan/Carlisle Cullen
Series: Bella Has Always Been Deadly [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043997
Comments: 23
Kudos: 103





	1. Into The Woods

Moving was tedious, it always was. Renee had been dragging Bella over the continental US for as long as Bella could remember. It had slowed down after Nonna Higginbotham died, and left Bella her grimoire. Renee had tried to keep it from Bella, but the book always somehow ended back up in her possession. Like magic. 

Bella had always been different, out of step with the rest of her peers. She wasn’t ever that happy-go-lucky kind of girl. She was more serious, focused on her studies, on keeping the house running. Renee would always tell her to loosen up, to go and be interested in things that other kids her age were interested in. But Bella just couldn’t. She always had too much on her mind. She had a flighty mother to look after, grades to upkeep, chores to complete and magic to harness and control. 

Where magic must have skipped a generation in Renee’s case, Bella was overflowing with it, Her aura was like a second skin. It made people, mortals, think she was intimidating and mysterious. It was the main reason that Renee had made them move to Arizona from Massachusetts after Nonna died. The whispers that followed Bella everywhere, whispers that came from people like Bella and from those that weren’t. 

Sometimes, Bella wondered if Renee was jealous that she couldn’t use magic. She always said she wasn’t, but Bella couldn’t help but wonder. Bella loved her mother and Bella was sure that Renee loved her too, but the woman seemed to be very critical of her daughter. Renee would never miss an opportunity to comment on Bella’s lack of social skills, on her lack of interest in her peers. She would say how she wished Bella could be like other kids her age, for her to be  _ normal _ . Renee never said it exactly like that, but that was the hidden meaning that Bella always picked up from her mother. But Bella could never be normal, not with magic, an undercurrent that lived just beneath her skin. 

When Renee met Phil, everything changed. Not for worse or anything. Bella believed that Phil was very good for Renee, he made her feel young again and he took care of her. Bella could relax a bit, knowing that she didn’t have to constantly worry about paying bills, doing grocery shopping and paying rent. Bella still did chores, but she wasn’t overloaded with everything she had to do. And it was nice, for a while. But then Renee’s nagging got worse. Wth how much free time Bella suddenly had, Renee started pushing harder and harder for Bella to fill her time with more  _ normal _ activities. Bella resisted for the most part, but she couldn’t help but feel like she wasn’t living up to Renee’s expectations. Like she was a failure and a disappointment, that Bella wasn’t the daughter that Renee had always wanted. 

That would have been hard enough to bear on its own, but Bella was also a fledgling witch, half-trained. Nonna had tried to teach her everything that she could, but she had died six years beforehand. Bella only had the grimoire to guild her. There were no True Witches in Arizona to teach her and they weren’t exactly welcome in Massachusetts. Bella didn’t know exactly why, she only knew that something bad had happened when she was about four years old. Bella had since been there to visit, but never for more than a week, and the True Witches there always glared at her, as if she was the scum of the earth. 

The grimoire could only teach her so much. It contained the majority of their families’ history, family rituals and rites. It contained information on crystals and herbs and their uses. Spells and potions, good and bad. It had summoning magic and how to talk to spirits and the Fae, how to respect them properly and how to make deals with them. There were some comments and hints on how to control her power, but nothing super in depth. Nothing that would tell her who she was supposed to be, what kind of witch she was supposed to be. Though, Bella thought, that was probably something she would have to figure out on her own. The grimoire was more like an informative pamphlet than a step-by-step training manual. 

The only thing that had been helping Bella control her powers was meditation. Nonna had told her how important meditation was to a witch, so Bella meditated everyday, almost religiously. And it did help. Bella had a big problem with staying visible. Especially when feeling anxious, embarrassed or noticed in any way. It always started in the fingertips, starting to grow more and more translucent until they turned completely invisible. Then, the process would continue slowly up her arms, until it was like she didn’t even exist. Bella hated any sort of attention being put on her, positive or negative. It’s why Massachusetts was such a hard place for Bella to go to, she couldn’t stand the stares. The whispers. 

The Fae Nonna had brought Bella to meet were fascinated by her powers of invisibility. They had managed to help Bella improve, control it better. She could now hide her scent and the sound of her heartbeat, so when she was completely invisible, not even the Fae could find her. But she still couldn’t hide the sound of her breathing, but she was working on it. She had modified it as well, after being inspired by the  _ Notice-Me-Not _ charm from  _ Harry Potter _ . Like a chameleon, she could make herself seem unnoticeable, without being completely invisible. Like a wallflower, people could just...overlook her. It was useful when someone wanted a volunteer or when her teacher was looking for someone to answer a question. But on the other hand, it had become a crutch and Bella became more and more isolated. People avoided her to begin with, because of her aura, the subconscious of regular mortals registered her as something dangerous. But now, with her chameleon ability, people noticed her less and less. That’s probably why it made the choice to leave Renee so easy.

Phil, as a regular mortal, had never been truly comfortable in Bella’s presence. He tried really hard to be, and Bella appreciated the effort he went to to try to relate to his weird step-daughter. Phil was a very lovely man, which was why Bella felt safe enough to leave her mother with him. 

You see, Bella was moving to Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie Swan, chief of police. Bella had a love/hate relationship with Forks. The place itself was beautiful, overgrown and lush, teeming with life. Bella could feel the Olde Magick, older than man. It was heady and overpowering. It was rejuvenating for any witch, particularly Hedge-Witches and Nature witches. It was the kind of magic that only the Native Americans knew how to harness, a magic that was sacred. And Bella loved just being in it, the honour of just being allowed to exist within its ageless beauty. That was the part Bella loved about Forks. The part she hated, well. It rained almost every single day of the year. When it wasn’t raining, it was either overcast or snowing. One was lucky to ever see the blue sky in Forks. Bella wouldn’t have minded it too much, would have gotten used to it eventually. The thing was, Forks only had a population of 3,545. There were probably that many people in Bella’s high school and grade school combined. 

Small towns, it meant everyone was in each other’s business. They were nosy, had to know everything about everyone else at every minute of every day. Bella didn’t know if she could survive the sheer amount of gossip that she would be forced to endure. 

Bella had no idea how Charlie dealt with it, for he was an intensely private man. Though, Bella supposed, his lack of speech probably helped with that. Charlie seemed to be adverse to conversation. It was hard for anyone to know your secrets or opinions if you never spoke. That wasn’t to say that Charlie was cold or condescending or unfeeling. He loved Bella deeply, and Bella knew it. She had never, ever felt unloved by her father. He just wasn’t a man of many words. Bella supposed that’s where she got it from. She didn’t really like to speak unless it was necessary. Or maybe she had never met someone she wanted to converse with for more than a few minutes. 

It’s not that Bella was stuck-up or she didn’t think others had important things to say. Quite the opposite. She was just...shy, for lack of a better word. Bella just didn’t feel that she had much in common with other kids her age. She loved to read and was fascinated by the macabre. She wanted to be a medical examiner when she graduated. It wasn’t death, per se, that fascinated her. It was the idea of it, how things functioned, why they were built the way they were and why they eventually died. She was fascinated by mortality. Bella also loved history, specifically religion and how that crossed over with the occult. As a witch, she wanted to know why ancient civilisations worshipped their gods and how they practiced their magic. And Bella  _ loved _ to read. The older the novel, the better. She enjoyed the romanticism of them, how they were little time capsules, commentaries on the time periods that they were written in. 

Bella never felt like she fitted in anywhere, but she hoped in Forks, she could try to find her niche.


	2. Jacob, the Sunshine Child

The plane trip was longer than Bella thought it would be. A part of her just wished she’d charmed her luggage to float behind her as Bella flew to Forks on her broomstick. Yeah, it would have been cold and possibly wet, but at least she wouldn’t have had to put up with screaming children and no personal space. But then, Charlie would have asked questions, and Bella really didn’t want him to know about her magic. Not because she thought he’d hate her or anything like that, but he’d think she was crazy. And she’d have to show him her magic, which was unreliable at best. And the True Witches of Massachusetts hated her enough without her telling someone without magic in their bloodline that magic was real. It was okay for Renee to know, because she was the daughter and mother of a witch. If Phil wasn’t allowed to know, then Charlie wasn’t allowed to know. Besides, Bella didn’t want to bring Charlie into her world, with how dangerous it could be. He was a regular mortal, had no way to protect himself from the Seelie and Unseelie. The less he knew, the better, the safer he was. 

Driving up to the house, Bella was astounded by how little it had changed. True, she hadn’t actually been to the house since she was about eight years old, but it looked no different from her memories. The weatherboard was the same chipped white colour, the roof still grey tiles. The garden, well more a lawn, was well manicured and maintained. When Charlie let them into the house, the inside hadn’t changed much, except the paint looked faded. The yellow that Renee had painted the fronts of the kitchen cabinets to bring a little sunshine into the gloomy house, had long since lost their luster. On the wall, going up the stairs, were Bella’s school pictures, dating from preschool to current. Bella flushed, wishing he hadn’t put them up. Like she needed any more reminder of how awkward she was. 

Charlie carried her bags upstairs to Bella’s childhood bedroom. The walls in here were also faded, but she could see how this room actually changed with time, unlike the rest of the house. The cot and dollshouse had been replaced with a desk and bookcase, the bed changing from a single to a double. 

Charlie sat down Bella’s luggage at the foot of the bed. “The shop lady picked out these bedsheets. You like purple, yeah?” 

Bella smiled at Charlie’s gruff tone. “Yeah, purple is cool.” 

Charlie nodded. “Well, alright then, I’ll leave you to get settled in. I’m sure you remember where everything is. You remember Billy Black, from the Quileute reservation?” 

“Yeah, Rachel, Rebecca and Jacob’s dad?” 

“Yes, he’s coming around later this afternoon. I bought you a truck, a little welcome home present. It’ll be good for you, help you get around.” 

Bella flushed. “Oh, Dad, you didn’t have to do that. I had saved up money for that.” 

Charlie waved her off. “It was the least I could do. Don’t worry, it’s not brand new or anything, if that makes you feel any better.”

Bella frowned, but didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “How old? If something breaks down, I don’t know if I could afford to have it fixed.”

Once again, Charlie waved her off. “The engine is brand new. It’s just the chassis that is old. And if anything does break down, Billy knows where to get it fixed up cheap.” 

Bella hesitated, but in the end, she trusted her father. “Okay, thank you so much.” 

Charlie blushed. “It’s alright Bells, it’s the least I could do for my own kid.” There was a pause. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Thanks Dad!” Bella called as he shut the door behind him. 

With a small sigh, Bella picked up the smaller of her two suitcases and set up her occult objects. She hung her windchimes by the window, and a dreamcatcher on the head of her bed. She then opened the window a crack, enough for faeries to get through, and left a small bowl of blessed water and sugar, and some buttons and some petals. They were an offering to the faeries that lived in the area. It wouldn’t do to insult the local Fae as soon as she moved in, especially if they sensed she was a witch. 

With that done, she lit some sage to cleanse the room as she opened her larger suitcase to fill the bookcase with her large book collection and her other knicks and knacks. She then filled the closet and dresser with her megre supply of clothing. Now that she didn’t have to pay for a car, she could probably now afford to buy some more clothes. She’d seen a pamphlet on the entry table, asking for parent volunteers for the upcoming Sadie Hawkins dance. Having to get out to Seattle to shop could make for a good excuse not to go. Dances weren’t really her thing. The one time a guy had asked her to go to a formal, it had been a joke and left her stranded. That had been the first time she had turned completely invisible. And she wasn’t looking for a repeat performance. The likelihood of that was high, as she was new to Forks High School and thus easy prey for bullies. At least, with Charlie, Bella didn’t expect him to force her to be social. It just wasn’t in his character. His personality was so polar opposite of Renee, it was refreshing. 

By the time Bella finished putting all her worldly possessions away, there was a loud horn blowing in the driveway. When she looked out the window, Bella saw Charlie walking over to a older man in a wheelchair and a young man, probably only a few years younger than her. This was most likely Billy and Jacob Black. Bella smiled softly and raced downstairs as quickly as she could, for once in her life, eager to meet someone. 

Bella had hazy memories of making mud pies and playing pretend with Jacob. It was probably the last time Bella felt like she had a true friend, even if they were very little at the time.

“And you must be Bella, wow, you’ve grown!” Were the words that greeted her as she stepped out of the house. 

Bella grinned. “Hey Billy, how are you?” 

“Still dancing,” Billy replied cheekily, which Bella chuckled softly at. “I’m sorry we took so long, my fault. Jacob wanted to be here this morning, he was very much looking forward to seeing you.”

Jacob, the boy in question, blushed. “Thanks dad, real cool.” 

“Just keeping it real, son.”

Bella laughed, and walked over and pulled Jacob into a light embrace, which somehow made Jacob blush brighter. “It’s great to see you again, Jake. It’s been a long time.” 

Jacob grinned, a smile so bright, it could light up a room. “Yeah, it’s great to see you too Bella.” 

“So, what do you think?” Billy asked, drawing Bella’s attention. 

Bella frowned. “Of what?” 

Billy laughed, “Of your new truck, of course!” He gestured to the faded red chevy parked beside them. 

Bella’s face lit up. “This? This is the truck? It’s so awesome!” 

Jacob stepped forward, suddenly in his element. “I rebuilt the engine from scratch, but don’t go above 60, even with all my hard work, I don’t think the old girl can take it. The clutch sticks a little bit, but not too badly, especially if you’re driving under 60.” 

“Don’t drive over 60, got it.” 

“Other than that, you should be good to go. If you have any problems, just give me a call and I’ll see what I can do.” 

Bella smiled warmly at him, genuinely touched. “Thank you so much, Jake. It’s so cool that you can build engines, such an amazing skill. I know nothing about mechanics.”

“Well, if you want lessons, I’d be happy to teach you.” 

Bella grinned. “That would be amazing, if we can both find the time, though I’d love to just hang out with you. Will I be seeing you at school on Monday?” 

Jacob shook his head sadly. “Nah, I go to school on the Rez.” 

“Ah, I see. It would have been nice to know one person.” 

Jacob smiled at her softly. “I’m sure you’ll make friends soon enough, but you’re always welcome on the Rez.” 

“Thanks Jake.” Bella said, blushing slightly, hoping that she really would be able to make friends. It had been really hard in the past, but Jacob didn’t seem to find her unsettling. In fact, he didn’t even seem to notice her aura. It gave her hope. Maybe the abundant natural magic in the land desensitised the people of Forks to magic in general. Maybe people wouldn’t find her as strange here as they did in Arizona, where Life magic was less abundant. 

“Come on Jake, it’s time to get back home.” Billy called from where he was talking with Charlie. 

“Yeah, let me drive the two of you home. I’ll pretend I didn’t see you driving here today, Jake.” Charlie said with false sternness. 

“We get permits early on the Rez!” Jacob protested. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Charlie joked. 

“Come on, Charlie, I have to get around somehow.” Billy insisted. 

“I know, which is why I’m pretending I didn’t see it.” Charlie laughed. 

Bella waved as the three of them drove away. She took a deep breath, hopefully she would be able to make friends as easily as she seemed to reconnect with Jacob.


	3. The Cullens

Bella woke up much earlier than she had to. She didn’t sleep well the night before either. The anxiety of it kept her awake, her sleep broken and infrequent. To try and centre herself, she meditated before the sun rose, to prepare for the day ahead. Bella knew she was going to be the centre of attention today, so keeping a handle on her unfortunate tendency to become translucent was essential. Meditation should help with that. After her meditation, she prayed to the triple goddess and lit some incense in thanks. It gave her the fortitude to face the day. Bella showered quickly, and dressed just as fast. Charlie was already eating breakfast when Bella made it to the kitchen. 

“Morning Bells. There’s some fresh toast on the bench over there. I had a feeling you’d be up. Nervous?”

Bella nibbled lightly on the offered toast. “How can you tell?” 

Charlie chuckled softly. “It’s not hard to guess. You’ve never been a morning person, after all.” 

Bella laughed softly. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true.” They were silent until Charlie bid her goodbye and he headed off to work. 

Bella was jittery, and couldn’t sit still, watching the seconds tick by on the kitchen clock. Once it hit 6:45am, Bella sighed and collected her things before walking out to her new, well new to her, truck. 

Starting the engine really woke Bella up, it was so loud. Bella didn’t know how she didn’t notice the sound of it when Billy and Jacob brought it around the day before. Pulling up a map, the route to Forks High was pretty simple. It was just off the main highway. 

There was a big sign stating the location of the school, so it was easy to see the turn off. The school itself didn’t have the big institution vibe that high schools in Arizona and Massachusetts had. It was more an eclectic collection of buildings placed haphazardly around each other, none of them matched. Bella followed the signs as she drove into the carpark, until she reached the admin building. She parked in the wait zone, before hopping out and entering the building through the one unlocked door, artificial light streaming through the glass.

“Hello, I’m Isabella Swan,” Bella said, stepping up to the desk where an older middle-aged woman sat, her glasses perched precariously on the tip of her long nose. The lady’s blank resting face immediately transformed into a kind, welcoming expression, which made her look motherly and doting.

“Hello dear. The Chief has already done all your paperwork, all you have to do is get every teacher today to sign this slip, and if you could bring it back at the end of the day, that would be marvellous.” The receptionist, Mrs Cope according to her name tag, said. She had a slight southern twang to her accent, which was surprising this far north west.

Bella smiled politely back and accepted the slip and the map that Mrs Cope was offering her, pointedly ignoring the woman’s heavy stare. “Thank you, ma’am.” And with that, Bella left the office, stepping back out into the cold air, and headed directly to her truck. She then drove her car over to the student designated carpark and perused the map she had been given. 

It was a pretty simple layout, so Bella didn’t think she would have much trouble finding her way around, especially in a school with less than 400 students. By that point, more people were arriving and Bella was pleased to note that her car didn’t stick out at all. Some cars looked newer than others, but no super fancy cars. It wasn’t out of the ordinary in Phoenix, Arizona, to see a new Audi or Lexus. It sort of pleased Bella, in a way, that all that rich shit hadn’t made its way out into the untapped natural beauty that was Forks. 

Bella, however, immediately ate her words, as a shiny new Volvo pulled into the carpark. Whatever. She didn’t want to judge people by their cars. Instead, Bella got out of her truck and headed for her first class. English, which Bella was excited for, even if she had already read most of the book list. Bella pulled out her current novel  _ The Count of Monte Cristo _ from her satchel bag, before placing the bag on the ground and using it as a cushion while she read. Bella kept her head down and tried to ignore the world around her as more and more students arrived. She already felt eyes on her, but it wasn’t too bad, Bella keeping a tight grip on her magic to keep visible. It was going to be a loooong day.

Soon, the bell rang and Bella sprang to her feet, grabbing her bag and walking into the classroom. Mr Mason directed her to a seat at the back of the room, gratefully not making her stand in the front of everyone to introduce herself. Despite being at the back of the room, students still managed to stare at her, instead of paying attention to Mr Mason. Bella gritted her teeth and tried to ignore them, focusing on taking her notes and listening to the lecture. Bella thought she might have a permanent blush on her face, not used to this much attention. She’d never really lived in such a small town before, she felt like she was the shiny new toy, a source for new gossip. Bella was almost dreading the end of class, where it would give someone the opportunity to talk to her. Ugh. That sounded way bitchier than she meant it to. With a deep breath, Bella strengthened her resolve. She would talk to people, she  _ would _ . She would talk to people and make new friends. That was the whole point of moving away from Renee, to make friends at her own pace and find people who had similar interests. She could do this, she  _ could _ . 

  
  


The bell rang and Bella started collecting her things when a boy walked over to her desk. He was thin, with slicked-back black hair and kind of pimply. He seemed nice though, with a shy smile, who clearly belonged to the chess club or something. The kind of guy who would have gotten beaten up in Arizona.

“Hey, you’re Isabella Swan, right?” 

“Uh, just Bella. You are?” 

“Oh, I’m Eric, Eric Yorkie. I run the school newspaper.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Bella said with a smile. Either this guy was the biggest gossip in the school or all he reported on was the school swim team. 

“I hope we’re all making you feel welcome at Forks High, how are you enjoying classes so far?”

Hmm, this guy was surprisingly outgoing. Must be used to doing interviews. “Well, English was good. It’s only my first day and all.” 

“Cool, cool. Do you need help getting to your next class?” 

“Um, Government with Jefferson in Building Six.” 

“Oh no worries, my next class is in Building Four. I can show you the way.” 

“Thank you.” Bella said with a shy smile. 

Eric chatted excitedly all the way to building six, about the school newspaper and about classes, all safe and neutral topics. Bella was somewhat grateful that he didn’t ask any deep and meaningful questions.

“So, you’re from Arizona? Bet Forks is a lot different.”

Bella smiled softly. “Definitely.”

Eric blushed faintly, which made Bella raise her eyebrows. “Uh, it doesn’t rain much there, does it?”

Bella shrugged. “Maybe about 4 or 5 times a year.”

“Wow, must be so sunny.”

“Yeah, the sun is pretty much a constant.”

“Then why aren’t you tan?”

Bella laughed at Eric’s bluntness. “I’m part albino… I’m just not really the outdoorsy type.” Bella replied. Being outdoors for witch reasons didn’t count, neither did broomstick riding. She wasn’t a huge clutz or anything, Bella could play sports if she had to, but it wasn’t really in her main interests. 

Eric nodded seriously, as if he agreed vehemently. Bella had to wonder if he realised she was joking about the albino bit. He led Bella straight to the door of building six.

“Well, here we are. Goodluck. Maybe we’ll have some other classes together.” He sounded painfully hopeful. Bella smiled gently at him before entering the class. She hoped all this attention would stop soon, despite being somewhat used to such stares. Bella had to look on the bright side, at least they weren’t glares.

Mr Jefferson’s eyebrows lifted when he read the name on the slip, giving Bella an up and down glance that made her feel a little uncomfortable, but also didn’t make her introduce herself. Bella was relieved when she sat down in her seat, glad to not have to make more small talk for the next hour until the walk to her next class. It seemed that almost everyone was here for this class, only one seat remained open, and it was all the way at the back of the room and quite secluded. Maybe Bella wouldn’t be the only hermit in the class.

Trigonometry wasn’t that far away, only in building five, but this time Mr Varner made her introduce herself, which kind of sucked. But at least she didn’t stumble over her words or her feet when she was directed to take a seat next to a short girl with wildly curly brown hair. She introduced herself as Jessica and talked a mile a minute, before Mr Varner told the class to settle down. When that class was over, Jessica picked up the conversation as if it had never stopped, leading the pair of them to Spanish class, which they also seemed to share. Jessica seemed to be able to speak Spanish as fast as she could speak English, which Bella found very impressive. When Bella told her so, Jessica blushed. 

“Thank you, my abuela taught me. It’s easy for me. I only took it because it would be an easy A. I really wanted to focus more on my other classes. One class to breeze through will really help my work/life balance.” And then she went off on another tangent that had Bella smiling at her amusedly. 

Jessica then led her to the cafeteria to a large table where all of Jessica’s friends were sitting. Bella tried to remember each of their names as they were introduced to her, but she knew it would take a couple of days for the names to stick. Bella was really good with faces, she never forgot a face, but names and numbers were harder for her to instantly recall. Now that Bella was in such a large group of people, other students from other tables felt more comfortable coming up to her and introducing themselves. Eric Yorkie waved to her from another table, to which Bella replied with her own wave somewhat more shyly. 

Bella was beginning to feel quite comfortable, no one was outwardly trying to avoid her, which was a plus. As much as Bella hid it, she couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt when people kept their distance from her. She knew it was neither her or the other person’s fault. She couldn’t help the aura that she exuded and people couldn’t help their fear. But it still hurt that people wanted to stay away from her. People here didn’t seem to have that problem. Maybe because she was an oddity, their curiosity outweighed their fear, perhaps? 

Just as Bella felt herself sinking into a discussion about the current English reading with one of the quieter girls, Angela, Bella felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She turned to look and saw a group of the most beautiful people she had ever seen sit down with full trays of food, at the other end of the room. 

There were three boys and two girls. One of the boys, the dark haired one, was huge, very tall and bulky, as if he spent every waking moment not at school, in the gym. The next boy looked equally as tall, but slimmer, and his bulk was less “body builder” and more “recreational runner”. His hair was honey blonde and he was frowning, his face pinched as if he had a stomach ache or something. The last boy had dark bronze hair and looked younger than the other two boys, who almost looked more like college kids, or teacher’s aides. This last boy had more boyish features, though no less beautiful than the other two boys. His long fingers were picking apart a bagel, though he didn’t seem to be eating any of it. 

The girls were polar opposite. The blonde girl was tall and statuesque, a 50’s pinup girl and a fashion model all rolled into one. Her golden curls fell gracefully down her back, she was literally the most beautiful woman Bella had ever seen. The other girl was just as beautiful, but in a manic-pixie-girl sort of way, thin in the extreme with almost boyishly short hair. She was resting her hand on the blonde boy, almost as if she was comforting him, even though they weren’t speaking or even looking at each other. 

Despite all their different hair colours and physical shape, they all looked somehow exactly the same. Their skin was chalky white and their eyes were all pitch black. They also all looked like they could use a good night's sleep, they each had dark circles under their eyes. And each of them were devastatingly beautiful. 

Bella tried to sound nonchalant when she turned to Jessica and asked, “Who are they?” Bella felt uneasy in their inhuman presence. Maybe they were Fae? Bella had only felt this way in the presence of Fae before. 

Suddenly, the boyish one looked at Jessica for a moment before his eyes flickered to Bella’s. Bella looked away, turning her attention to Jessica, so he wouldn’t catch Bella staring again. In that brief glance that Bella caught, his face had given no emotion, as if he had looked up involuntarily, that she had called his name to him. ‘Odd’, Bella thought, ‘perhaps he can hear me. Maybe they  _ are  _ Fae?

Jessica must have already guessed who she meant, because she had already begun speaking before she’d even fully turned to Bella. “They’re the Cullens’. Dr and Ms Cullen’s foster kids.” She must have caught the look from the boyish one, as Jessica giggled with embarrassment and looked away like Bella did.

“That is Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The dark haired girl is Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his sister.” Jessica said all this under her breath.

The boyish one, Edward, seemed to have finished picking apart his bagel. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect pale lips barely opening as he did so. The others were still looking away, but it appeared like he was indeed talking to them.

‘Unpopular names for such young people,’ Bella thought. ‘Those are names grandparents and great grandparents have.’

“They’re very, er, nice looking.” Bella said, not knowing what else to say. They were very beautiful, but Bella wasn’t actually as affected as she made it seem. It had been a surprise at first, a shock at seeing such beautiful people, but Bella had seen such beauty in other Fae when Nonna had taken her to see them.

“Yes!” Jessica agreed with yet another giggle.

‘Such a giggly girl, this one’, Bella thought, amusedly.

“They’re all together though. The buff one, Emmett and Rosalie, the blonde girl, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they  _ live _ together.” Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, Bella mused somewhat critically.

“Funny, they don’t really look related.” Bella said softly, not really to Jessica, but she heard anyway.

“Oh, they’re not. Dr Cullen is really young, in his late twenties, early thirties. They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins – the blondes- and they’re foster children.”

Bella raised an eyebrow. “They look a little old to be foster children,”

“They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Ms Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt through marriage or something like that.”

“Huh,” Bella said. “That’s kind of nice of them, for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”

Jessica shrugged. “I guess so,” Bella got the impression that Jessica didn’t like the doctor and his sister for some reason. Bella guessed jealousy, by the looks Jessica was throwing at them. “I don’t think that Ms Cullen can have biological children, though.” Jessica added, as if that made them less kind somehow. 

Bella’s senses were still tingling, too strongly for the Cullens’ to be simple humans. Bella continued her questioning, trying to keep it light and subtle, rather than head into an interrogation. “Have they always lived in Forks?” Bella was sure she would have met them before hand, in her visits in the past.

“No,” Jessica said, her tone of voice implying that that should be obvious. “They moved down two years ago from in Alaska somewhere.”

Bella glanced back over to the group and sighed in pity and relief. Pity that, like her, they were treated like outsiders; however, relief that she wasn’t the only newcomer. Bella accidentally locked eyes with Edward, but this time, Bella noticed curiosity in his gaze. It felt like there was a certain expectation in his eyes, though Bella had no idea what it could be. 

She briefly thought she felt someone graze her mind, but the sensation was gone as quickly as it arrived. It made Bella frown lightly, looking down slightly, before meeting Edward’s gaze again. He was still staring at her, but not gawking like the rest of the student body, and he had a slightly frustrated expression. ‘Why? Could he have tried to touch my mind?’ Bella thought. Long ago, Nonna had taught Bella the importance of keeping her mind protected. Not that she’d had much difficulty learning. Bella was a natural and had a mind block in place without any effort on her part. It was apparently connected to her invisibility, that not even her mind was visible.

Jessica noticed Bella watching Edward. “Yeah, he’s gorgeous, of course, but don’t waste your time on him. He doesn’t date. Apparently none of the girls, or boys, here are good-looking enough for him.” Bella chuckled internally, clearly a case of sour grapes. Bella wondered if he had turned her down.

Edward had since turned his face away, but his cheeks appeared lifted, as if he were smiling too. Bella frowned. Something one of his siblings said? But they didn’t appear to have moved. Could he really have heard what Jessica had said? What species had such good hearing? Bella had since come to the conclusion that these people were not entirely human.

‘Whatever,’ Bella thought. ‘As long as they don’t cause trouble for me or anyone else, then I don’t care what they are.’

Alice suddenly rose, as gracefully as a ballerina, and dumped her full tray into the rubbish before practically dancing out of the cafeteria. The rest of the Cullens’ shortly followed suit, even Emmett, the big one, moved just as gracefully. It had Bella staring. She shook her head to clear it, and blushed, hoping no one had noticed her staring. Bella didn’t like to be stared at and felt a little ashamed at being guilty of doing the exact same thing. Bella wished her Nonna was here, she would be able to tell Bella in an instant what kind of Fae they were. 

‘Ugh, I thought you’d decided that you didn’t care?’ Bella scolded herself. Edward didn’t look at her again. Maybe that was the reason Bella’s aura wasn’t so off-putting to the people of Fork, they had already been living with the otherness that the Cullens’ were. Her magical aura was nothing compared to their inhuman beauty.


	4. What Crawled Up Edward's Ass and Died?

Biology, the class Bella was looking forward to, was fast approaching. But, as excited as she was, Bella actually waited with Jessica’s friends a lot longer than she would have if she were alone. Angela, the nice, quiet girl Bella had been talking with before, also had biology with Bella as well, though she already had a lab partner. Which was fine. Bella could find a different partner. Totally nothing to panic about. She just hoped that they wouldn’t have to work together on something straight away. After all the socialising at lunch time, Bella didn’t know if she could take the focus of one person for a whole hour. 

The two girls walked together in silence, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them felt the need to fill the silence with chatter, simply happy to be quiet together. 

Once they reached the door, Angela walked to her lab table and Bella walked over to Mr Banner, to get her slip signed. From there, Mr Banner directed her to take the only open seat left, next to Edward Cullen. 

As Bella walked towards the boy, she smiled shyly. However, Edward stiffened, and glared at her. It made Bella freeze momentarily, but she gingerly lowered herself onto the stool, her textbooks on the table and satchel bag at her ankles. Edward leaned so far away from her, he was almost standing. His hand was covering his nose, as if he had smelled something rotten. 

Surreptitiously, Bella sniffed her hair, but all she could smell was her strawberry scented shampoo. Nothing to suggest that she stunk. She let her hair fall around her, a sort of curtain to hide from Edward. Again, she had to fight her body’s natural response to turn invisible. She could already see the tips of her fingers had turned slightly translucent. Bella closed her eyes and focused on staying visible. After a few calming breaths, she felt her panic response calming down and opened her eyes to see her fingers become visible. However, the magic had already built up, a pressure, and she needed to release it. So, instead of risking setting anything on fire or making the glass in the windows shatter (both of which had happened before when Bella couldn’t relax the build-up of magic), she decided to do what the Fae had taught her, and hide her scent and the sound of her heartbeat. Maybe if Edward was some sort of Fae, whatever unconscious scent she was giving off might have caused his utter revulsion. It was the least she could do to ease his obvious suffering. 

Soon enough, Bella saw Edward relaxing somewhat out of the corner of her eye. That then made Bella relax a bit. Clearly, Edward wasn’t human, if her scent was bothering him so much. None of the mortals Bella had sat with at lunch had noticed any sort of scent. It made Bella even more curious as to what kind of Fae Edward really was. Maybe a Selkie? He and his siblings were easily beautiful enough to be. And Selkies had a strong sense of smell. She’d have to consult the grimoire when she got home to figure it out for sure. 

Bella peeked around the curtain of her hair up at Edward. He was staring at her, his coal black eyes no longer full of loathing, but instead confusion. Bella smiled warily at him, which he did not return. Bella looked away then, focusing on taking notes, even though she already knew everything Mr Banner was talking about. Despite this being an advanced Biology class, it still wasn’t as advanced as Bella’s AP Biology class back in Arizona. Bella hoped she wouldn’t spend the next two years of high school bored out of her mind, but maybe now, with an easier class load, she could focus more on her witchcraft and making friends. And maybe figuring out what kind of Fae the Cullens’ were and what the hell they were doing at a mortal high school. 

From what Bella had heard around the school, the Cullens’ kept to themselves, and didn’t really associate with the rest of the school population, or even the town population. They were all nice enough, but they never went out of their way to converse with other people. Did they choose to hold themselves apart, or did that just sort of happen to them? Going by the clearly designer clothes they were wearing, maybe it was their money that set them apart. They were rich and that could have isolated them. But going by the glare Edward had directed at her, and the fact that he hadn’t even tried speaking to her, Bella was going to guess that they _chose_ to ignore mortals. Which, if they were indeed Fae and didn’t just win the genetic lottery, then it would make sense that they wouldn’t converse that much with mortals. But it didn’t explain why they were even here in the first place, when there were Fae societies all over the US that they could be a part of. Overall, it was confusing. 

When the bell rang, signalling the end of class, Edward seemed to launch himself out of his chair and out of the classroom before anyone else even thought to move out of their chairs. ‘Damn, he fast’ Bella thought to herself. 

Suddenly, a blonde-haired golden retriever appeared in front of her. 

“Hey, I’m Mike, Mike Newton.” Mike said, grinning from ear to ear. What was with all these boys introducing themselves like James Bond? He was a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blonde hair carefully gelled into place, though a stray curl around his ear had escaped. He was smiling at Bella in a friendly, ‘I’m a nice jock’ kind of way. If he was the golden retriever Bella had immediately associated him with, his tail would be wagging up a storm.

“I’m Bella.” Bella said with a shy smile. 

“Do you need any help finding your next class?”

“I’m headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it.” Bella said, not unkindly.

“That’s my next class too!” He said, seemingly thrilled by the possibility. Bella wasn’t that surprised. The school wasn’t that big, crossover was bound to happen.

They walked together to class. He was a chatterer and supplied most of the conversation, which was great. Bella was getting tired of repeating her backstory over and over again. Mike had lived in California till he was ten, so he knew what it was like to lose constant sunlight, but he still loved rain and snow. It turned out he was the nicest person Bella had met that day. He was in her English class as well. It was going well, until they were entering the gym.

“So, did you run into Edward Cullen earlier today and stab him, or something? He looked like he wanted to pick a fight with you or something.”

Bella cringed. She’d hoped no one had noticed. It wouldn’t do for another piece of gossip to start about her. “Yeah, I have no idea. He didn’t say anything to me, not a word. I have no idea what was up with him.”

“Yeah, I mean, if I was lucky enough to have you as a lab partner, I would have at least talked to you.” 

Bella blushed slightly, definitely not used to a boy flirting with her. “Oh, well, I dunno. Maybe he was just having a bad day.” 

Mike shrugged. “Cullen is weird. They all are.” 

Bella decided not to respond to that. They parted ways, as Coach Clapp gave Bella a uniform to wear, which she was grateful for. She didn’t want to get her regular clothes all sweaty. After such a, well kind of stressful day, doing some physical activity would help blow off some steam.

Volleyball was fun, as far as team sports go, but Bella still felt a bit uncomfortable in a group and working together with other people. She tried to just stay in her lane and not play too hard, Bella didn’t want people to think she was showing off. Though, Bella doubted anyone would actually judge her for being semi-decent at sports. She just didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. As much as Bella enjoyed the workout to blow off some steam, she was grateful when it eventually ended. She changed quickly and headed back out into the blustery winds, directly to the admin building so she could return the slip. 

When Bella walked into the warm office, she almost turned back around immediately.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of her. He didn’t appear to notice the sound of her entrance. Bella stood pressed against the back wall of the small room, waiting for the receptionist to be free and for Edward to leave.

He appeared to be arguing with Ms Cope in a low, attractive voice. Bella quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade sixth period Biology to another time, any other time.

Bella raised an eyebrow. ‘Did my chameleon thing not work well enough? Or doesn’t he want the risk of smelling me again? But what would the danger be, apart from putting up with a bad smell? Unless…’

The door opened again, and cold wind suddenly gusted around the room, rustling all the papers littered around the room. The girl who came in merely steeped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and then walked back out. But Edward Cullen’s back stiffened, and he slowly turned to glare at Bella.

“Shit,” Bella said under her breath, but by Edward’s raised eyebrow, she could tell he’d heard her. Bella had since released the invisibility tweak, since she didn’t think she would be seeing Edward again that day. Closing her eyes, Bella silently focused and reapplied the ‘spell’, and her eyes once she had finished.

Once again, Edward froze in surprise, the hostility melting from his face and confusion taking its place.

Bella smiled weakly at him, which made Edward’s confusion deepen. He turned back to the receptionist. “Never mind then,” He said hastily in a voice like velvet. “I can see that it’s impossible. Thank you so much for your help.” Then he turned on his heel, with one last confused glance Bella’s way, and strode out the door.

Bella took a deep breath and walked to the desk, placing her slip on the desk.

“How did your first day go, dear?” Mrs Cope asked maternally.

Bella smiled gently at her. “Not too bad, I think I made some friends.”

Mrs Cope grinned at me. “There you go, dear.”

Bella walked back out of the office and leaned against the outside wall, taking a deep breath to collect herself. Looking out, she saw the Cullens' entering the shiny Volvo. Why didn’t that surprise her? Bella rolled her eyes and walked towards her truck as they drove away. 

Her truck engine scared her as she turned it on, forgetting the noise once again. It startled her into laughing at her own ridiculousness. After a short drive home, Bella gratefully turned on the inducted heating and toed of her boots once she stepped in the front door. 

There was no real food in the kitchen, so Bella resolved to go grocery shopping the next afternoon. Guess they were having left over pizza for dinner. It was just as well, Bella was exhausted from her first day at school, and would have loved nothing more than to simply shower and then go to sleep. 

Alas, she shoved two slices of pizza in the microwave and left a note for Charlie to leave her some grocery money for tomorrow. After chowing down on her pizza, Bella had a searingly hot shower before going straight to bed. Having such a tight grip on her magic all day had tired her out just as much as the physical and mental effort of actually going to school. Introversion was hard.


	5. Dude, She Has Anxiety, Leave Her Alone

The next day was better. And worse. Better because Bella had found a groove, surprisingly quickly. People still stared, but not as much so, and she felt more comfortable jumping into conversation here and there. Worse, because Edward Cullen wasn’t there, and Bella had the sinking feeling it was because of her. It was a ridiculous and self-absorbed way to think, but she couldn’t help but think of Edward’s hateful black eyes, his fury and confusion, how it was directed straight at her. So yes, school was easier that day, except now the Cullens’ seemed to be taking turns staring at her. It seemed to lend credence to her “Edward isn’t here because of me” theory. 

And just like that the day was over and Bella was heading to the grocery store with the money Charlie had left in a jar on the counter. 

Bella liked supermarkets. Mostly the weird dystopian vibe that they gave off. When you went far enough inside, it was like time stopped moving. You could be anywhere in the world, inside any major supermarket. She liked to imagine going into a Wall-Mart here in Forks and then walking out in Florida or something. They were like portals or liminal spaces. They fed into her macabre outlook of life. A weird enjoyment of thinking odd things. This is probably why Bella didn’t have that many friends. She laughed at her own expense, out loud, drawing odd looks from other shoppers. 

Getting home, she decided to make Mexican chicken, which was simple enough. Luckily, she wasn’t as _experimental_ of a cook like Renee. Most, if not all, of Bella’s food came out edible, unlike Renee. It seemed like Charlie wasn’t much of a cook either, so that would be yet another chore that Bella would be picking up. Not that she minded, of course. She was happy to do things. Bella was grateful that Charlie planned to be out fishing all day Saturday, so she could finally use magic to help with the household chores, like laundry. Bella didn’t really use magic when cooking, she found the process soothing, a form of meditation in of itself. The repetitive motion of cutting up vegetables, of stir-frying. 

Charlie was a little bit suspicious when he smelt all the spices when he came home, but Bella assured him that she was nothing like Renee in the kitchen. He was brave enough to take the first bite when it was served and found himself enjoying it quite a lot. He most likely didn’t have access to good Mexican food this far north, the closest edible Mexican food would probably be in San Francisco. Not to say Bella thought her Mexican style food was as good as, say, Jessica’s abuela’s would have been, but it wasn’t half bad. 

Charlie said he would do the dishes, only fair as she had cooked the meal, before Bella headed upstairs to complete her homework. Looking in the windowsill, Bella noticed her petals and button were gone, replaced by a quarter and a glass marble. It was safe to take these things, as it had been an exchange. Bella had left them the sugar water and the petals and button, so in return they have given her something. It warmer her heart to know that the local faeries had accepted her gifts. She took the quarter and marble, and refilled the blessed sugar water and placed some pressed flowers down, from her collection. Hopefully they would enjoy the bluebells. 

Nonna’s grimoire caught Bella’s eye and she immediately remembered that she was going to see if she could narrow down what the Cullens’ could be. But she didn’t have much else to go on. If she really wanted to know what they were, she would need more information than she had. But how would she even go about getting more information about them? She couldn’t exactly march up to them and demand to know what they were. That would have been incredibly rude, and depending on what kind of Fae they were, highly dangerous. And Bella also knew, if the roles were reversed, she would have really hated for the same thing to happen to her. With Edward not at school, she hadn’t been able to confront him on his actions of the previous day. 

Bella continued her musing until she went to bed that night. 

The next day was much the same, still no Edward. It was coming up to the weekend, and Edward still hadn’t returned to school. Maybe he dropped out? No, that’s silly. If that were true, it would have spread through the school like wildfire. Maybe he was sick, and that was why he was so moody that first day. Everyone gets cranky when they’re feeling sick. But still, that didn’t explain his reaction when Bella hid her scent and heartbeat. That shouldn’t have relaxed him to that degree. It was odd. Bella wished she didn’t care so much. 

The weekend too flew by. The whole _week_ flew by. While Charlie was gone, Bella made use of her magic, drying, folding, and putting away clothing very quickly. She also set the vacuum cleaner and duster off to clean on their own as well. She almost felt like the fairies in Disney’s _Sleeping Beauty_ , when they used their wands for the first time in sixteen years to clean the cottage. At least, doing these things with magic helped her stretch her magic muscles as she hadn’t been able to do in a long time. 

Soon enough, it was Monday once again, and Bella was filled with anxiety. What if Edward Cullen was back? What if he wasn’t?

Morning dawned with heavy grey clouds that threatened rain or worse, snow. She really hoped it wouldn’t snow. As much as Bella didn’t mind the rain, snow was a completely different animal. She would have to practice warming spells, too used to cooling spells for the Arizona climate. She didn’t want to accidentally set anything on fire, or heaven forbid, build a sweat. That wouldn’t be obvious at all(!)

Bella was anxious the entire time, as school progressed slowly. She wanted it to be lunch already so she could know if Edward was there or not. She needed to know if she had to hide her scent or not, as exhausting an effort that would be. 

Finally, lunch did occur, and Jessica could sense her anxiety. She had been shooting Bella concerned looks since Trig. When they finally made it to the cafeteria and in the line up for food, Bella glanced over at the Cullens’. Much to Bella’s pleasure and extreme displeasure, Edward was indeed there. Bella froze when he looked up to meet her eyes. She felt her stomach drop. When she got to the checkout, she only grabbed a water bottle, making Mike and Jess look at her worriedly. 

“Are you okay, Bella?” Jessica asked, resting a hand on the other girl’s shoulder. 

Bella nodded weakly. “Just feel kind of sick.” 

“Do you need to go to the nurse?” Mike asked, his tone sympathetic. 

Bella shook her head. “It should pass.”

“Edward Cullen is looking at you.” Jessica whispered. 

Bella blanched, not even risking a glance. “Does he look angry?” Bella whispered back. 

Jessica frowned. “Should he be?” 

“I don’t think he likes me.” 

Jess snorted. “The Cullens’ don’t like anyone.” But she didn’t press for more details. 

Now that the question of whether Edward was at school or not was answered, Bella didn’t feel the usual relief that came with that question answered, especially now that the answer was affirmative rather than negative. Bella wondered if she _could_ say she was feeling sick and just skip out? 

‘No,’ Bella told herself firmly. ‘You’re not going to let some dumb boy drive you away from your favourite class, whether or not he’s human doesn’t matter. Fuck him.’ 

However, her strong resolve didn’t stop the churning in her belly as she lightly sipped from her water bottle. Bella was even less involved in conversation today, simply out of her anxiety, though lucky for her, no one seemed to notice. Well, maybe Angela noticed, but she didn’t say anything either. 

The seconds ticked by until finally the bell rang, and Bella was now forced to meet her fate. 

‘Ugh,’ Bella scoffed internally. ‘When did I get so fucking dramatic?’


	6. Edward, Again, Your Mood Swings! Get Therapy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter this time folks. I really got into the dialogue this time. I hope you enjoy this one.

Bella hadn’t watched the Cullens’ leave the cafeteria, and yet Edward was still there before her. Guess he really was that fast. 

Walking towards the lab table, Bella kept her head down, and rifled around in her satchel bag as if she was looking for something. It gave her an excuse not to have to look at him before she was ready. She didn’t know what she would do if she was met by those hostile black eyes again. Once sat on the stool, she pulled her textbook and workbook out of her bag and placed it on the table in front of her. She released a deep sigh, and slouched forward, letting her hair fall between them, like a shield. Bella had blocked her scent and heartbeat before she even walked into the classroom. She wanted this class to go by as easily as possible. 

“Hello,” Came a soft, musical voice. Bella had heard it before, of course, when he had been arguing with Mrs Cope, but it sounded different now that it was directed at her. Before Bella could reply, Edward continued. “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk last week. I’m Edward Cullen. You must be Bella Swan.” 

Bella blinked at him. “Why did you call me Bella?” 

Edward frowned. “Do you prefer Isabella?” 

Bella shook her head hurriedly. “No, not at all. But everyone seems to know me here as Isabella. I think Charlie must call me that to other people. But no, I prefer Bella. I just wanted to know how you knew to call me that.” 

Edward smiled crookedly. “I must have overheard someone else calling you that. We hadn’t been introduced properly before, after all.” 

“Hmm,” Bella said softly. She changed gears. “You were gone all week. I hope everything is alright.” 

“Ah, yeah. I had to go out of town. Something came up. But it’s fine now.” 

Bella smiled gently. “Well, I’m glad everything is fine, then.” Bella thought that would be the end of the conversation, Edward pressed on.

“So, have you been enjoying living in Forks?” 

“Oh, yes, it has been lovely.” Even to Bella, that sounded half-hearted. 

“You don’t sound so sure about that.”

“No, it has been nice, living here with Charlie.” 

“But you’d rather be in Arizona?” Edward asked, prying a little. 

“Yes and no.” 

“Then why did you come to Forks, if you’re so uncertain about it?” The question wasn’t unkind, Edward asked it patiently, as if he genuinely wanted to know, without any malicious intent. 

“Well, my mother got remarried.” 

“Ah, and she sent you away? You don’t like the guy?” His tone continued to be sympathetic. 

“No, Phil is great. He’s really good for Renee. And I sent myself.” 

“Why would you send yourself somewhere you don’t want to be?” 

“You certainly ask a lot of questions.”

“That’s what you do when you want to get to know somebody, right?” 

Bella scoffed. “People usually don’t want honest answers. I think you want honest ones.” 

“I would prefer honesty, yes.” 

“Look, Phil is a minor league baseball player. You probably haven’t heard of him. But he moves around a lot to play. Renee stayed with me for a while, but I could tell she really missed him, so I decided to go spend some time with Charlie. Does that answer your question?” 

“But now you’re unhappy.” 

Bella didn’t answer.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” 

Bella, suddenly irritated, snapped back, “What does it matter to you?” 

“Good question.” Edward replied softly, as if he hadn’t really meant for Bella to hear it. 

Bella rolled her eyes, she didn’t have the energy to figure out his little cryptic remarks. She was too busy hiding her scent from him and also trying to take notes.

“So,” Mr Banner said, drawing the attention of the class. “Now we’re going to do a little prac. In front of you should be a microscope, a worksheet and five different slides. Using the microscope and working with your lab partners, you need to discern which stage of cellular mitosis each onion root tip is in. You may look at your textbooks if you get really stuck, but I would advise against it, as I will be making a note of who does and doesn’t use the reference material. It will be added or subtracted from your final grade.” 

“Ladies first, partner?” Edward asked, having already put the slide in, and shoving the microscope towards Bella. 

Bella peeked through the scope. “Prophase.” 

Edward raised an eyebrow. “May I check.” 

“Go ahead.” 

Edward shifted the microscope carefully back towards himself and peered through the scope. “Prophase.” He confirmed. 

Bella smirked. “Like I said.” 

She handed him the next slide, but their hands touched and Bella had to fight her instincts to recoil. His hands were ice cold. It had been snowing before class, but Bella hadn’t paid it much attention, too anxious to really notice. His hands felt like they’d been in a snow drift, rather than crossed over his chest like they had been the past half an hour. 

“Sorry,” He muttered. “Anaphase.”

Bella ignored his apology and repeated his earlier question, “May I check?”

Edward’s mouth twitched, like he wanted to smile. “Go ahead.” He pushed the microscope back towards her, careful not to touch her at all. 

“Anaphase.” Bella agreed. 

Edward smiled crookedly. “Like I said.” He handed Bella the next slide, basically dropping it into her hand so there would be no chance their skin would touch again. 

“Metaphase.” Bella said. She peeked up at Edward. “Do you want to check?” 

Edward chuckled softly.”No, no I trust you.” And he wrote the answer down on the worksheet. Bella noticed that his handwriting was perfect, almost like calligraphy. Bella was glad she hadn’t written down any of the answers. She didn’t want to smirch the paper with her untidy scrawl, next to Edward’s elegant script. 

They worked slowly like this and finished before everyone else. Bella could see Mike had his textbook hidden under the desk, as if he thought Mr Banner couldn’t see it. 

Speaking of Mr Banner, he walked over to see why Bella and Edward weren’t working. He appraised the worksheet with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you think it would have been a good idea to let Bella have a turn with the microscope?” He asked sternly. 

“Bella named three out of the five slides, sir.” Edward replied promptly, a slight hint of a sneer in his tone, as if he was offended at the accusation. 

“I see,” Mr Banner said. He turned to Bella. “Were you in an accelerated program in Arizona?” 

“Yes, I’ve done this prac before, but with white fish blastula.” 

“Hmm, well, you may both read quietly or study until the period ends. You may not help other students.”

“Yes, sir.” Bella and Edward chorused. 

Bella reached down and pulled out her latest re-read  _ Slaughter-House Five _ by Kurt Vonnegut, not at all considering Edward to try to continue the previous conversation. 

“So, you’ve moved to Forks, away from your mother. What are your future plans? College?” Edward asked, drawing Bella’s attention back to him.

“Uh, I want to be a medical examiner when I finish school.” 

Edward blinked. “A medical examiner?” 

“Yeah, you know, studies dead people, tries to figure out how they died. That sort of thing. And/or pathology. What?” Bella asked, at Edward’s surprised expression. 

“It’s just not an answer that I expected.”

“Ha, I suppose you thought I’d be a literature major or business. Something normal like that.” 

“Well, yeah. You don’t really come across as the ‘looks at dead things’ kind of person.” 

“Then you don’t know me very well.” Bella replied, promptly. 

“But why a medical examiner? Why not a surgeon or a general practitioner?” 

“It’s just more interesting to me. Trying to keep people alive is too much pressure for me, but finding out why they died, how they lived. It’s much more fascinating to me. Well, medical examiner or maybe a forensic anthropologist, like Dr Temperance Brennen, from  _ Bones _ . That would be cool, working with like, mummies or very old remains.” Bella replied, daydreaming for a moment. 

Edward chuckled softly. “So naive.” 

Bella frowned at him. “Naive?” 

“People are killed in gruesome ways, for millennia. Women, men, children. Do you really think you could take it? Seeing these people and what terrible things happened to them?” 

Bella rolled her eyes. “I’m made of tougher stuff than that, Cullen. I get that humans are capable of horrific things. You’re not pulling the wool from my eyes, I am well aware of what a human can do to another person.” 

Edward raised an eyebrow at her, surprised. “I apologise.” 

Bella shrugged. “I’m used to people underestimating me. It’s how I get under the radar.” 

Edward smirked. “And who’s radar are you trying to get under?” 

“Everyone. They don’t have to know my business.” 

“That’ll be a hard feat for you. This is a small town, after all. People are going to find out your business eventually.” 

“I don’t know, your family seems to handle it pretty well. No one seems to know anything about you guys. ” 

Edward laughed without humour. “Yeah, sure. Have you heard the rumours about us? How scandalous we all are?” 

“Yeah, but that’s all they have. Rumours. Do they actually know anything important about you?” 

Edward sighed. “We try to keep to ourselves. We don’t really fit in.” 

“And you don’t try to either. Not that I think fitting in is all that important. But you can’t blame everyone for thinking you’re mysterious and making up rumours if you don’t let people know who you really are.” 

Edward stared at her. “You seem to be quite knowledgeable on the subject.”

“Well, when you first met me, what assumptions did you have?” 

“Quiet, bookish. Probably reads more books than she talks to people. Keeps her opinions to herself.” 

“And what about now?”

“Hmm, still all that first stuff, but also a bit weird, unhappy with Forks, fascinated with death... and life. Wise.” 

Bella blushed at the 'wise' comment. “Well, there you go. All I’ve gathered from you is that you keep to yourself, yet you’re nosy about me. In this whole conversation, I’ve gleaned nothing from you. You seem kind, patient, but I don’t know if that’s what you’re really like or if you’re just acting that way to get information from me.” 

“You don’t want to know anything about me.” Edward said, shutting down the conversation, leaving Bella reeling. Before Bella could protest his statement, the bell rang and Edward was gone. 

Bella frowned. What a dick! But that's when she realised it. His eyes were gold.


	7. Don't Come For Charlie's Cullens', He's a Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy Charlie not being a Cullen hater...yet.

The snow that had fallen during lunch had been washed away by rain by the time school finished, for which Bella was thankful. She wouldn’t be forced into an impromptu snowball fight. She just didn’t have the energy for it. But that wasn’t the most important thing on her mind. 

His eyes were gold. How could she have not noticed that until after he had left? Perhaps she had been too distracted by the fact that he was actually talking to her, not looking at her like he wanted to _kill_ her. Could he have put contacts in? But why would he have done that? That’s sort of odd. Bella didn’t get close enough to his adopted siblings to see if their eyes had changed colour. 

Bella was pouring through the grimoire, trying to find a creature in there whose eye colour changes from black to gold, but she was coming up with nothing. Many creatures' eyes _could_ change colour, but none that specifically changed from black to gold. She knew they were not human. Nothing human had hands that cold, skin that pale and were that beautiful. It just didn’t happen. Selkie was probably the closest, as the Cullens’ were beautiful and seductive and cold. But it never mentions anything about the pale skin or colour changing eyes. 

‘Let’s get back to basics,’ Bella said to herself. ‘They are definitely Fae of some sort. They could be Seelie or Unseelie. Going by the descriptions, they could be Selkies, Vampires or even Nymphs. But without any more information, I can’t narrow it down any further.’ 

Bella came to the realisation that, unless Edward chose to let her in, she would never know what the Cullens’ were. She decided that she would leave it up to Fate. The Cullens’ weren’t doing anything to anyone, so there was no reason why she should be trying so hard to figure out what they were. 

Instead, to relax, Bella pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil. Originally, she was just going to sketch out flowers, as that was the most relaxing. But she found herself drawing eyes. Edward’s eyes, when they were black and angry, and when they were gold and soft. She also started drawing the eyes of his siblings, from what she had noticed from her brief glances every day at school. The Cullens’ were very beautiful, that was for sure. 

Ugh, she started sketching to stop thinking about the Cullens’ goddamn it! 

She tossed the sketchbook aside and attempted to have a soothing shower. When that didn’t work, Bella went downstairs to check on the roast she’d put in the oven as soon as she got home, in an attempt to distract herself. On a shitty Monday, a warm roast dinner would be nice to come home to, right? She hoped Charlie would like the marinade she put on the beef. It wasn’t quite traditional, but hopefully still nice. It had been in there for a couple of hours, so she took it out to rest before it would be ready for eating. She covered it with some tin foil and put it aside. She then slowly cut up the vegetables to be roasted as well, as they wouldn’t have taken as long to cook as the meat, so she’d saved them until last. She looked at the kitchen clock and saw that Charlie would be home soon. Bella was glad that the whole meal would probably be ready when he walked through the door. 

A thought occurred to her. She thought about what Edward had said, about the rumours and that no one really knew the truth. Charlie was probably pretty friendly with Dr Cullen, since he was the head doctor at Forks hospital. Maybe she could ask him about the Cullens’? 

Sure enough, dinner was indeed ready as Charlie walked through the door. 

“Wow, that smells good, Bells. What for eating?” He asked eagerly. Seriously, the surest way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. 

“Roast beef and roast vegetables, with brown gravy.” 

“Ah, you’re spoiling me Bells. I haven’t eaten this good since Grandma Swan was around.” 

Bella smiled. “It is the least I could do. I mean, after you letting me stay here and everything.” 

“Of course you can stay here. You’re my daughter. It’s no skin off my nose ‘letting’ you live here.” Charlie said, pulling Bella into a brief one-armed hug. “Well, enough of that. Let’s eat!” 

Charlie carved the roast and put good helpings on each of their plates. When they were well into their meal, before conversation started.

“So, how did you like school this past week? Have you made any friends?” He asked, putting some more potatoes on his plate.

“I have a few classes with Jessica, I sit with her friends at lunch. Also, there’s this boy Mike, who’s very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice.” Bella replied.

“That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid, nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here.”

Bella chose to change gears, to ask Charlie what she wanted to know about a certain family. “Do you know the Cullen family?” She asked hesitantly.

“Dr Cullen’s family? Sure. Dr Cullen’s a great man.”

Bella took a chance. “They … the kids, that is … are a little different. They don’t seem to fit in very well at school.”

Charlie surprised Bella by looking angry.

“People in this town,” He muttered. “Dr Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here,” he continued, getting increasingly louder. “We’re lucky to have him, lucky that his sister wanted to live in a small town. He’s an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them, but they’re all very mature. I haven’t had a speck of trouble with them. That’s more than I can say for the children of some of the folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together, like a family should, camping trips every other weekend. Just because they’re newcomers, people have to talk.”

Bella was stunned. It was the longest speech she had ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people must be saying.

Quickly backpedalling, Bella said “They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed that they kept to themselves. They’re all very … attractive.”

Charlie laughed. “You should see the doctor. A lot of the staff at the hospital have a hard time concentrating with him around.”

They were silent for a bit longer. “I wonder why people would say mean things about them. I mean, they keep to themselves, sure, but they haven’t done anything to deserve it. At least, I don’t think so.” Bella mused out loud. 

Charlie sighed. “It’s small-town politics, I’m afraid Bella. They’re new and different, doesn’t matter if they’re nice and upstanding people. They don’t fit the mould, so people knit-pick and play nasty games.”

“Hmm,” Bella murmured. “Well, I hope I fit in well then.” She tried to joke. 

“Yeah, Bells, for sure. You’re my daughter after all. Besides, if people start saying nasty things, for whatever reason, just ignore them. This may be a small town, and I know one has to expect a certain amount of talk, but that’s all it is, talk.” Charlie said 

Bella smiled warmly. “Thanks dad.” 

“No worries, Bells.” 

Not long after, Bella retired to her room to finish off the last of her homework before she went to sleep. She closed her eyes, still pondering Charlie’s words.


	8. A Meet Cute Following a Near Smooshing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And not the fun kind of smooshing

The next morning was clear, there was no sound of rain or even snow. That in itself excited Bella. She hurried to the window and was in awe with what she saw. Every inch of every surface was covered in a thin layer of ice. Icicles hung from the trees, and ice covered the footpath and the driveway, not to mention the roads. Bella would be driving very carefully to school that day.

Bella got ready for school at her normal pace, not in any sort of hurry. She’d got up earlier than usual, her body not used to the silence the morning greeted her with. It was a good thing she had gotten up earlier, so she could be extra careful on the road. 

As she headed down the front steps, she nearly slipped, but caught the hand rail so she didn’t go down fully. She was glad she’d put her very sturdy boots on, if this was what she was going to be facing all day. She hopped into the cab of the truck and turned the engine on, long since grown used to the roaring sound it made. 

Driving to school was much easier and smoother than Bella thought it would be, even with her extra caution. When she’d arrived at school, and hopped out of the cab, she suddenly realised why. Out of the corner of her eye, Bella saw something silver glinting. It appeared that Charlie had, at some ungodly hour of the morning, put snow chains on her tired. A warmth bloomed in her chest, at someone taking care of her, of her father doing something so thoughtful for her. 

However, the moment was broken by a devastatingly loud screeching of locked tires skidding across ice and pavement. When Bella looked up, she saw Tyler Crowley’s van skipping at 30mph towards her truck. In a split second, Bella looked around and saw the horrified faces, though the faces of the Cullens’ stood out more than most. 

Right as Bella was about to be smooshed, from pure instinct, she pushed her hands out. From her hands, form a near translucent barrier. At that same second, a hard body was pulling her down and away from the on-coming van. 

The van careened around, smashing against the tail of Bella’s van, and pushed away slightly by her barrier. The van seemed to warp slightly around her barrier and hit the front of the truck too, though not as hard. The barrier seemed to have absorbed most of the energy from the van. As the van came to a stop with a loud thud, Bella’s barrier evaporated. The hard body holding Bella down and away from the van, turned out to be Edward Cullen, surprise, surprise. 

However, the pair just stared at each other until they whispered in near unison,

“What are you?” 

Then the screaming started, not from Bella or Edward, but from the students and staff who had seen it happen.

“Are they okay?”

“Quick! Someone call an ambulance!”

“Can anyone see them, are they alright?”

“Tyler, get out of the van!”

A big group of the boys came and shoved the van away, revealing Bella and Edward, crouched against the ground. 

When the ambulance came, the EMTs wanted to put them on stretches, but since neither Bella or Edward hit their heads, they managed to talk them out of it. However, they both still had to come to the hospital, and Tyler of course. Compared to Edward and Bella, it seemed Tyler had got the worst of it, covered in glass, some of it embedded in his skin. Bruises were already beginning to form on the visible parts of his body. 

Upon arrival at the hospital, Edward disappeared, annoyingly enough. Not like Bella was going to be asking questions about what had happened in front of anyone. She wasn’t stupid. But she did want to talk to him. Charlie had just arrived but was told to wait out with the rest of the school, who all seemed to show up at the exact same time. 

However, Bella was led directly to a bed in the exam room and Tyler to the one next to her. He had been apologising the minute they reached the hospital and was out of his shocked daze. Bella had already said it was okay, over and over again, but he wouldn’t stop. Bella put that down to shock. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep so she could get a moment's peace from Tyler. 

“Is she asleep?” Came that annoyingly velvety voice. 

Bella’s eyes snapped open.

“Hey, look, Cullen, I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s alright. No harm, no foul.” Edward said, kindly. 

Bella levelled a glare at him. “And how come you’re not strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?” 

Edward laughed. “It’s all about who you know. Besides, I’ve come to spring you.” 

Moments later, the door burst open and the single most handsome man Bella had ever seen walked through. Clearly, this was Dr Cullen. He was tall, probably as tall as Jasper Hale. His hair was light blonde, and his skin was as pale as Edward’s. His face looked like it was carved from marble by an old Greek master. He looked like Zeus’s younger, hotter brother. But then she met his eyes. 

Something snapped inside Bella as she looked into his honey gold eyes. It was like a hole inside her chest that she didn’t even know she had, was filled. It was over-filled even, it was overwhelming. It was like she had known this man all his life, despite not even knowing his first name. Somewhere, outside her current level of comprehension, someone gasped. Bella didn’t know how much time had passed as she stared into Dr Cullen’s eyes. It could have been moments; it could have been centuries. Time had become meaningless, as long as he would spend it all with her. Those eyes, she could never get tired of looking into those eyes. 

Someone cleared their throat, and the moment was over. 

“Well, Miss Swan, your vitals look fine.” Dr Cullen said, walking over to her now, his cool fingers gently feeling against her head. “You’re certain you didn’t bump your head? I can’t feel a bump, but that doesn’t mean one won’t form. You haven’t felt any pain?”

It took Bella a second to find her voice. “Uh, no, no pain. And please, just Bella.” 

Dr Cullen smiled. “Then please, as Edward’s friend, call me Carlisle.” He pulled away then, and Bella instantly missed his touch. She didn’t miss it for long, though this second touch wasn’t quite as pleasant, as he stretched the skin around her eyes to flash a light across them. “Pupils are equal and reactive. It seems you were very lucky, Bella.” 

Bella smiled. “Yes, if it wasn’t for Edward pushing me out of the way, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you.” 

Edward scoffed at that, which made Bella, unfortunately, look around Carlisle to raise an eyebrow at her classmate. 

Carlisle cleared his throat and busied himself with her chart. “Well, yes, uh, very lucky.” 

Ha, okay, Carlisle wasn’t subtle at all. And he was clearly whatever type of Fae Edward was, so he knew exactly what happened. No beautiful eyes or soul wrenching stare could distract her from that. So Bella smirked, and turned to Edward, “Yes, so I owe you gratitude. Thank you for saving me, Edward.” 

Edward immediately looked pissed, which amused Bella to no end. “You’re welcome.” He said gruffly. 

“Well, I should be able to discharge you then. If you do feel any pain, just take a Tylenol. But if you have any blurred vision or start seeing black spots, I want you to come straight back, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Bella said, flushing slightly when Carlisle smiled warmly at her. “Can I go back to school?” 

“I think you should take it easy and rest for the rest of the day.” 

“What about Edward, does he get to go back to school?” 

“Someone has to spread the word that we survived.” Edward snarked. 

“Well, actually, it seems like most of the school population is in the waiting room.” 

Bella immediately groaned forlornly. 

“Do you want to stay?” Carlisle said, his tone light. 

Bella hopped down the bed and nearly lost her footing in her eagerness to leave. She flushed when Carlisle caught her with his cool hands, and Bella couldn’t help the thrill that ran through her at his touch. “Nope, I’m ready to go.” 

“Alright then. Take it easy, Bella.” 

“I will.” Bella replied. She turned to Edward. “We’ll talk...later.” 

“We won’t.” Edward denied. 

Bella rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to let it go, but I’m not stupid enough to say anything.” She hissed at him, as she flounced from the room. 

The last thing she heard was Carlisle’s beautiful voice saying, “Well, I’m sorry Mr Crowley, but you will have to stay a little longer.”

Charlie was there to greet her when she reached the waiting room. “Oh, Bells! I was so worried. Are you okay?” 

Bella pulled Charlie in for a hug. “I’m fine dad, really. Not a scratch or a bruise on me. Promise.”

“What did Dr Cullen say?”

“Despite me being _completely fine_ , he would like me to go home and take it easy for the rest of the day. How’s my truck?”

“Oh baby, I’m so glad. Oh, uh, your truck is fine. Not even a smashed glass. There’s only a slight dent in the back fender from where the van hit you. I’ll have one of my deputies bring the car home for you.” Charlie assured her as he pulled back from the hug. He wrapped an arm around Bella’s waist and guided her to the exit. Bella waved at her friends to let them know she was fine, but she wasn’t up to speaking with them. 

Besides, she had a lot on her mind. The rest of the day home alone gave her a long time to ponder what the hell just happened between her and Carlisle Cullen.

"Oh, and you should probably call your mother."


	9. Like, Why Are You Even Trying To Hide It At This Point?

Bella’s chest ached more and more the further she got away from the hospital. It was like a part of her heart had been left behind with Carlisle Cullen. Bella had no idea what just happened between them, and Nonna wasn’t around to ask. And Bella definitely didn’t feel comfortable writing to the True Witches in Boston about this. Could it have been a spell? Did Carlisle put a spell on her, somehow take a piece of her heart when their eyes met. Somehow, a part of her said that it was okay, that Carlisle would never hurt her. When she thought about his gentle touch and warm smile, the ache in her chest lessened, but didn’t completely go away. Just what was this connection that she felt? It came on so strong and without warning. She resolved to ask Edward about it. He and Carlisle were the same species of Fae, surely he would know what happened, right?

Either way, whatever happened, Bella was going to figure it out. 

That evening found Bella drawing sketches of Carlisle Cullen in her sketchbook. Just like her previous Cullen sketches, she focused on his eyes a lot, then his face. She worked for ages trying to get his smile just right, but she still felt like she couldn’t quite get his features right. She didn’t think it was her memory, his image was permanently seared there. Perhaps her skill level just wasn’t high enough to quite capture his essence. She would practice for hours just on the crook of his mouth, how it pulled on the skin of his jowls, how it lifted his cheekbones slightly. It was getting dark before she realised how long she was sitting there, trying to draw Carlisle’s face. She came back to her senses the moment she heard Charlie unlock the door. She put her sketchbook to the side before racing down the stairs. 

“Oh, dad, I’m so sorry, I must have fallen asleep, I haven’t got any dinner going.” 

Charlie smiled gently. “It’s okay Bells, after the day you’ve had, it’s understandable. I think we both deserve a pizza after today.” 

The next day, people fawned over Bella the moment she arrived. People wanting to know she was okay, people to know exactly what happened. The worst was when people said they didn’t even see Edward standing with her before the crash. Bella was quick to correct those ones. She painted Edward as the hero who saved the day, and never alluded to anything supernatural whatsoever. She knew better than to out a Fae as a Fae to mortals. That was even more taboo than True Witches admitting they were witches in more than jest. 

Bella noticed the Cullens’ watching her even more than usual. Like, it was almost creepy. But then, Bella knew they were just worried about her telling anyone the truth. But Bella had as much of a secret as they did. Edward hadn’t said anything to her about the barrier that she had created. Her magic was just protecting her, she didn’t even have to think of a spell, it just pulled out of her. Though, Edward showing up to save her really did help with the cover story. Everyone seemed to buy the story that Bella was peddling. And obviously, no one had the courage to ask Edward directly. Despite the aura that had kept people away from Bella for  _ years _ , apparently, she was the preferred person to ask about what happened. 

Finally, it came to Biology, but Edward was giving her the cold shoulder. Bella rolled her eyes at this. Clearly he was trying his hardest to try and convince Bella that he hadn’t done anything supernatural. Ridiculous, because it wasn’t like she could deny to him that what she’d done was supernatural. But she let him have his dramatics. ‘

Mike, however, was getting on her last nerve. He had been sighing over her all day. It was so obvious that Jessica had a thing for him, and yet, he couldn’t stop mooning over her. Jessica had even asked Bella if she wanted to ask Mike to the Sadie Hawkins dance, to which Bella vehemently denied. She gave Jessica the full go ahead. Bella really had to do something about him, she could sense he was starting to grow a crush on her. It wasn’t going to be easy either. In a small town like this, where everyone lived on top of each other, diplomacy was essential. But Bella had no experience with overly friendly boys, the one back in Arizona ignored her and the ones in Boston were intimidated by her. Bella herself had never had a boyfriend, never been on a real date. She had never been asked, so she didn’t know how to let someone down easy. Bella hoped that when Jessica asked him, he would say yes and leave Bella alone. 

As far as love, well, she’d never been in love. And she’d definitely never had sex, couldn’t even imagine having sex. Her mind wandered over to Dr Cullen… his cool hands and his beautiful face… Bella shook her head to clear it. Bad Bella, bad! She sighed, being a teenager was ridiculous. 

Edward noticed the interaction, then Bella’s reaction and smirked. Obviously, he would now only speak to her to make fun of her. “You seem to have an admirer.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Edward raised his eyebrows, not expecting this reaction. “Not reciprocated?”

Bella snorted. “No, he’s too young for me.” She said without thinking. Boys matured a bit slower than girls already, but her life experience made her way older in the sense of emotional maturity. She’d been looking after Renee, managing a household, for most of her life.

This made Edward frown. “Aren’t you 17?”

Bella blushed. “Um, yeah. I, er, prefer to date older people.” Her mind immediately jumped to Dr Cullen, though she tried to smoosh that down. There was no way a man of his age would date her, a seventeen year old. It just didn’t happen, it wasn’t appropriate. No matter how much those thoughts made her chest ache.

Edward raised an eyebrow, making Bella blush even harder. They didn’t speak for the rest of the period. Bella launched herself from her seat the minute the bell rang, avoiding Edward’s slightly bemused gaze.

Fuck, that was embarrassing. God, maybe she should just scream to the rooftops that she had the hots for Dr Cullen. That’s what it felt like she’d said to Edward’s face, when she blurted out that she liked to date older people. Ugh. That sounded so slutty. And she still didn’t get the chance to corner Edward alone to interrogate him. 

The next day, Bella was surprised that Jessica wasn’t her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by Bella’s side between classes and Bella was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, Bella was the last person she would want to tell.

Bella’s fears were strengthened when during lunch, Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet. Mike was still quiet when he walked Bella to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn’t broach the subject until Bella was in her seat and he was perched on her desk. As always, Bella was magically aware of Edward sitting close by.

“So,” Mike said, looking at the floor. “Jessica asked me to the spring dance.”

“That’s great.” Bella made her voice bright and enthusiastic. “You’ll have a lot of fun with Jessica.”

“Well…” He floundered as he examined Bella’s smile, clearly not happy with her response. “I told her I had to think about it.”

“Why would you do that?” Bella let disapproval colour her tone, though she was relieved that he hadn’t given her an absolute no.

His face was bright red as he looked down again.

“I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me.”

Bella paused for a moment. But Bella saw from the corner of her eye, Edward’s head tilt reflexively in Bella’s direction.

“Mike, I think you should tell her yes,” Bella said slowly.

“Did you already ask someone?” Did Edward notice how Mike’s eyes flickered in his direction?

“No,” Bella assured him. “I’m not going to the dance at all.”

“Why not?”

Bella didn’t want to tell him about how she lacked the grace for dance that she had for other sports, so she quickly gave him her Seattle excuse. “I’m going to Seattle that Saturday,” Bella explained. She needed to get out of town anyway, it was suddenly the perfect time to go.

“Can’t you go some other weekend?”

“Sorry, no,” Bella said. “So, you shouldn’t make Jess wait any longer, it’s rude.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” He mumbled and turned dejectedly to his seat. Bella closed her eyes and pressed her fingers into her temples, trying to cleanse herself of teenage drama. Mr Banner began talking, so Bella opened her eyes.

Edward was staring at her curiously, that same familiar edge of frustration even more distinct in his dark amber eyes. Clearly, they weren’t contacts. His eyes were slowly changing from black to gold, to fading slowly back to black. Bella stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead, he continued to gaze with probing intensity into Bella’s eyes. She once again felt that brush against her mind, but whatever mind magic Edward was using, it wasn’t strong enough to break through to her thoughts. 

“Mr Cullen?” the teacher said, seeking the answer to a question that Bella hadn’t been paying attention to.

“The Krebs Cycle,” Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr Banner.

Bella had to wonder what the hell was going on with Edward. What was he searching for when he looked into her eyes. Perhaps, Dr Cullen mentioned the strange connection to Edward and he was trying to figure it out too?

Near the end of the lesson, Edward spoke to her. “Bella?” His voice shouldn’t have been so familiar, like the warmth of covers and blankets on a cold morning. It wasn’t as overpowering and intoxicating as Dr Cullen’s voice, but it was pretty up there in terms of pleasantness. 

Bella turned to him, a wry smile on her face and her brows lifted. “What? Are you speaking to me again?” Bella said, sarcastic as ever.

His lips twitched, fighting a smile. “No, not really.” He admitted.

“Then what do you want, Edward?”

“I’m sorry,” He sounded sincere. “I’m being very rude, I know. But it’s better this way, really.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

Edward frowned. “What do you mean?”

Bella just smiled at him and turned away. The bell rang soon after and she grabbed her books quickly before heading to gym without looking back. She missed Edward’s mystified and frustrated expression, not knowing how much her enigma was annoying him. Taste of his own medicine. He had nothing to report back to Carlisle, despite the older man telling him to leave Bella alone. 

After gym, Bella hurried back to her truck, longing for home. She was tired and she wanted to go home. She almost had a stroke when she rounded the corner of a building and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of her truck. Then Bella realised it was just Eric. She started walking again.

“Hey Eric,” Bella called.

“Hi Bella.”

“What’s up?” She said as she was unlocking the door. She wasn’t paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice and she chucked her bag into the cab, so his next words took her by surprise.

“Uh, I was just wondering … if you would go to the spring dance with me?” his voice broke on the last word.

“I thought it was the girl’s choice?” Bella said, too startled to be diplomatic.

“Well, yeah.” He admitted, shamefaced.

Bella quickly regained her composure and tried to make her smile warm. “Thank you for asking me, but I’m going to be in Seattle that day.”

“Oh,” He said. “Maybe next time then.”

“Maybe.” Bella replied, but she bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t try again. He was too young. All the boys here were. Except the Cullens’, but they didn’t know she knew that. Fae were almost always immortal, and she was sure they were much older than they looked.

Eric slouched off, back towards school. Bella heard a low chuckle. Edward was walking past the front of Bella’s truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. Bella rolled her eyes and hopped into the cab of the truck, slamming the door hard. She reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of her, cutting Bella off. He stopped there, to wait for his family; Bella could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. Bella considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. Bella looked in the rearview mirror, seeing that a line was beginning to form. Directly behind her, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired, used Sentra, waving. Bella was too annoyed to acknowledge him.

While Bella was sitting, looking everywhere but the car in front, she heard a knock on her passenger side window. Bella looked over; it was Tyler. Bella looked back in her rear-view mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. Bella leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was still. Bella got it about halfway down before she gave up.

“I’m sorry Tyler, I’m stuck behind Cullen.” Bella was annoyed, obviously the holdup wasn’t her fault.

“Oh, I know. I just wanted to ask you something while we’re trapped here.” He grinned.

This could not be happening.

“Will you ask me to the spring dance?” He continued.

“I’m not going to be in town, Tyler.” Bella’s voice sounded a little sharp. She had to remember that it wasn’t his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up her quota of patience for the day.

“Yeah, Mike said that.” He admitted.

“Then why –”

Tyler shrugged. “I was hoping that you were just letting him down easy.” Okay, it was completely his fault.

“Sorry Tyler,” Bella said, working to hide her irritation. “I really am going out of town.”

“That’s cool. We still have prom.”

“Er, I doubt I’ll be going to that either Tyler.”

And before he could respond, the Cullens’ were already beginning to drive away, so Bella took the opportunity to drive away also. However, in his rear-view mirror, Edward’s eyes were on her. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter. Being a Fae, he probably heard every word. Bella flipped him off, making him laugh even harder.

Even Bella cracked a slight smile. “Yeah, fuck you too, Eddie.” She said out loud, knowing he (and the rest of the car’s occupants) could hear her. That made him raise an eyebrow in surprise and she smirked before she turned off the road into the other direction they were going. She could have sworn she saw the other occupants laughing too.


	10. FINALLY, SHE'S FIGURED OUT WHAT KIND OF FAE THEY ARE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omg, that took FOREVER. I ripped some, okay well a lot, from my other hp/twilight crossover fic. I just felt like the two characterisations of Bella are really similar. There are a few differences of course, but I still wanted her to have these conversations, to slowly tease out the storyline rather than just dumping it all into your lap in one go. It's no fun if Bella immediately figures it out, witch or not.
> 
> This chapter is a little bit longer than previous chapters.

That night, unbeknownst to Bella, a heated conversation was going on at the Cullen mansion. 

“Edward, please. She already knows there is something different about us. She might be my mate, but she is just a child. She doesn’t know what she’s getting into. If any of us has the right to tell her anything, it will be me. I know what you’re thinking, but don’t do it. It would be better for everyone if we just left it alone. It’s too dangerous, for her and for us.” Carlisle snapped. 

“But Carlisle, you’ve been alone for so long. Each one of us, we’ve found our true mates, and now that you’ve found yours, you’re just going to let her slip through your fingers?” Edward crowed. “I know you, I know you better than anyone else, I know how lonely you are, how much you’ve suffered. You’re not even going to give her the option?” 

“Edward, you’re really advocating for Carlisle to take her life? She has more options now, as a human, to live a full human life! She can still move on from this, get married, have children, grow old and be surrounded by her grandchildren. You would really take that away from her?” Rosalie snarled. 

“Please, you’re just jealous. I can’t understand you, how you can hate this life so much. Why did you wish you’d just died so much? You would never have met Emmett, you know, the love of your life. And besides, if you hadn’t been killed by your ex-fiance, you would have been stuck marrying an abusive man, who probably would have shared you around after you were married anyway. And children? You would have wanted to bring children into that relationship?” Edward exclaimed. 

There was a loud explosion of a sound, of Rosalie slapping Edward across the face. His face cracked slightly, from the power of her hit. But Edward didn’t react. Rosalie’s eyes were shining with venom, of tears she could not shed. 

“Fuck you, Edward.” Rosalie hissed, before running so fast out of the mansion, it created gouges in the wood floor. Esme was tutting over them already. 

“Eddie, you’re my brother, and I understand on some levels where you’re coming from. But never speak to Rosalie like that again.” Emmett said, in even tones, uncharacteristically serious. He then turned and sped out of the room after his mate. 

Edward sighed, remorseful already. He shouldn’t have lost his temper like that. “Look, Carlisle. You can’t know if Rose is wrong or not if you don’t actually talk to Bella. She already knows there’s something strange about us, but you can’t deny that there is something strange about her as well. That barrier, she created that. She has a Gift, and it's powerful for it to have manifested this strongly as a human. Not to mention the aura she gives off, of mystery, as if she’s drawing you in much like we are designed to do. Please, at least consider it.”

Carlisle took a deep, unnecessary, breath. “I will...think about. But don’t push Edward. Please.” 

UvU

The next morning in the school carpark, while attempting to shove everything inside her bag, Bella dropped her car keys. They landed in a puddle right at her feet.

‘Great, today is already off to a fantastic start(!)’ She thought grumpily. As she bent down to grab them, a white hand flashed out and grabbed them before Bella could. She jerked upright and glared at Edward, who was now leaning casually against her truck.

“Thanks, Road-Runner. Could you give me my keys back?”

Edward held out Bella’s keys, laughing as he did so.

“Does that make you Wile E. Coyote? Slow and dastardly?”

Bella rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I think you’re the dastardly one. Why the traffic jam last night? I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don’t exist, not irritating me to death.”

“That was for Tyler’s sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance.” Edward snickered.

Bella laughed. “Really, and did you come up with that on your own or did he ask you to do that?”

“Ah, both? He didn’t directly ask me, but let’s just say, it was a group effort.” Edward said, then he paused. “And I’m not pretending you don’t exist.”

“So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler’s van didn’t do the job?”

Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line; all signs of humour gone. Perhaps she had pushed him too hard with her teasing. 

“Bella, you are utterly absurd,” he said, his low voice cold. Bella rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. “Wait!” He called, but Bella kept walking.

“I’m sorry, that was rude.” He said as they walked. Bella continued to ignore him. “I’m not saying it isn’t true,” he continued, “but it was rude to say it, anyway.”

“Not much of an apology. What do you want, anyway?” Bella asked, turning to him at last.

“I wanted to ask you something, but you side-tracked me,” He chuckled. He seemed to have regained his previous good humour.

“Do you have multiple personality disorder or just extremely violent mood swings?” Bella asked, only half joking.

“You’re doing it again.”

Bella sighed. “Fine then, what do you want to ask?”

“I was wondering if, a week from Saturday, you know, the day of the spring dance --”

“Are you trying to be funny?” Bella cut in, sure of what he was about to ask.

His eyes were wickedly amused. “Will you please allow me to finish? I heard you say you were going into Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride.”

That was unexpected. “Er, why?”

“well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and to be honest, I’m not sure your truck can make it.”

Bella shrugged. “My truck will make it.”

“But on one tank of petrol?”

“Why is that any of your concern?”

“The wasting of finite resources is everyone’s business.”

“Honestly, Edward, I can’t keep up with you. I thought you didn’t want to be my friend.”

“I said it would be better if we weren’t friends, not that I didn’t want to be.”

Bella rolled her eyes. Fucking Fae, trying to decide for her.

Edward took her eyeroll as permission to continue. “It would be more … prudent for you not to be my friend.” He explained. “But I’m tired of trying to stay away from you.” It was clear he was trying to dazzle her, but Bella found herself strangely unmoved by him. What was he trying to achieve? Bella could tell he wasn’t romantically interested in her, and neither was she in him, but there he went trying to turn up the intensity. 

“Will you go to Seattle with me?” He asked, still intense. 

Bella sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing. “Fine.” 

He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious once more. “You really should stay away from me,” he warned, and walked back the way the two of them came.

“Maybe it’s you who should be staying away from me,” Bella hissed under her breath, sure that Edward heard her, but he didn’t make any sign that he had.

UvU

After Spanish, Bella followed Jessica into the cafeteria as usual, but something was… different. Bella glanced over at the Cullen table. Edward wasn’t there. She wondered if he had decided to take another week off again, like that first biology class. Bella once again only bought a water bottle, and they meandered over to the usual table. 

“Huh, I wonder why he’s not sitting with his family today.” Jessica murmured. 

“Who?” Bella asked. 

“Edward Cullen. He’s sitting by himself today.” 

Bella frowned. She searched the tables until she found Edward sitting at the far end of a long table, at the opposite end from where the seniors sat. When Bella caught his eye, he crooked a finger, beckoning her to come over. 

“Does he mean you?” Jessica gasped. 

“Maybe he has a question about the biology assignment?” Bella mumbled as she rose to her feet and walked over to the lone Cullen. She didn’t sit down, but lingered, leaning behind the chair opposite him. 

“This is different.” Bella stated plainly.

Edward gestured to the chair Bella was leaning on. “Please, sit.” 

Bella did as she was bid. “So why are we doing this today?” 

“Well, I decided that if I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.” He said with a chuckle. 

“I doubt, if you die, that you’ll be going to Hell, per se.” Bella replied. 

“ _If_ I die. You don’t think that is certain?” Edward asked. 

Bella just smirked in reply, choosing not to answer.

He quickly changed the subject, eying her warily. “I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you.”

“They’ll survive.” Bella could feel their stares boring into her back.

“I may not give you back, though.” He said with a wicked glint in his eyes.

It made Bella laugh again, which he joined in with, though there was still a slight frown in his brows.

“You don’t look worried, however.”

“No,” Bella replied, smirking. “Surprised, actually. What brought this all on?”

“I told you, I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I’m giving up. You are much too interesting to me,” He was still smiling, but his ochre eyes were serious.

“Giving up, eh?” Bella replied, amused.

“Yes, giving up trying to be good. I’m just going to do what I want now and let the chips fall where they may.” His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice.

“Fate might be kind, you know. Could be a welcome change.” Bella replied, almost as cryptically.

Edward frowned. “I always say too much when I’m talking to you, that’s one of the problems.”

Bella half-smiled. “I feel the same. I thought it would take more than a pretty face to make me spill the tea, but here we are.” Though, she was sure Dr Cullen could make her spill even more secrets if he just asked her. She wondered when she would see him again. Maybe trying to be friends with Edward would make it easier to see the good doctor again. And ask him what the hell he did to make her chest feel this way. 

Edward laughed, but there was still a bit of confusion there.

“So, in plain English,” Bella began again. “Are we friends now?”

“Friends…” He mused, dubious.

“Or not,” Bella huffed.

He grinned. “Well, we can try, I supposed. But I’m warning you now that I’m not going to be a good friend for you.” Behind his smile, the warning was real.

“Who’s to say I will be a good friend for you either?” Bella smirked, a dark humour in her tone, which seemed to surprise Edward, as if she wasn’t joking. “And you say that a lot, by the way.” 

Edward blinked, letting Bella’s first statement drop. “Yes, because you’re not listening to me. I’m still waiting for you to believe it. If you’re smart, you’ll avoid me.”

“I think you’ve made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too.” Bella replied, her eyes narrowing.

He smiled apologetically.

“So as long as I’m not at my peak level of intellect, we will try to be friends?”

“That sounds about right.”

Bella looked down at her hands, not sure where to go with this.

“What are you thinking?” he asked curiously.

“I’m trying to figure out what you are.” Bella replied evenly. His jaw tightened, making Bella smirk.

“Are you having any luck with that?” He asked in what he obviously thought was an offhanded tone.

Bella chuckled softly. “A bit. You think you’re fitting in quite well, but you and your siblings are just a little bit too mysterious.”

Edward raised an eyebrow. “What are your theories?”

Bella laughed lightly. “Oh, I have a few. Some more unlikely than others. I think I have it pretty well narrowed down, though.”

“Won’t you tell me?” he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly charming smile. But it was lost on her. Every time he tried to dazzle her, the less effect it had on her. It made it easier to tease him and to just have fun with it. 

Bella shook her head. “And give the game away too soon? Never.”

“That’s really frustrating, you know, you not telling me what you’re thinking.” He complained.

“No,” Bella disagreed quickly, her eyes narrowing once again. “I can’t imagine why that would be frustrating at all, just because someone refuses to tell you what they’re thinking, even if all the while, they’re making cryptic little remarks, specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating at all?”

Edward grimaced. “You’ve got a bit of a temper, don’t you?”

“I don’t like double standards.” 

He glanced over her shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, he sniggered.

“What?” Bella snapped, still annoyed.

“Your boyfriend seems to think I’m being unpleasant to you, he’s debating whether or not to come break up our fight.” He sniggered again.

Bella rolled her eyes, which Edward caught. She had long since picked up Mike’s attempt to stake claim to her. But to not give Edward the satisfaction, she said “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I’m sure you’re wrong, anyway.”

“I’m not. I told you, most people are easy to read.”

“Except me, of course.”

“Yes. Except you.” His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. “I wonder why that is.”

Bella looked away from his intense stare, feeling that brush against her mind once more. Clearly, Edward was a mind reader, which was how she knew how pissed Mike was right now, aside from, you know, body language. 

“Aren’t you hungry?” He asked, distractedly.

“No,” Bella replied. She smirked. “You?” She already knew what his answer would be. The more she talked with him, the more her theory grew. Perhaps he was an Unseelie, perhaps he was…?

“No, I’m not hungry.” He replied, enjoying the same joke, not knowing that Bella understood it. Of course, it was so obvious! Vampire. 

“Thirsty maybe?” Bella asked, smirking, making Edward wonder once again how much she knew, before she changed the subject. Going off Edward’s surprise, led Bella to believe that she’d hit the nail on the head. “Can you do me a favour?”

He was suddenly wary. “That depends on what you want.”

“It’s not much,” Bella assured him. He waited, guarded but curious.

“I just wondered if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I’m prepared.”

“That sounds fair.” He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing.

“Thanks.”

“Then can I have one answer in return?” He all but demanded.

“Depends on the question.”

“Tell me one theory.”

“Something supernatural.” Bella replied simply, which made Edward freeze minutely. It made Bella smirk. “Not something sci-fi. Not like Spiderman or anything like that.”

“Yes, I’m definitely not a superhero. I’m more the arch nemesis, the villain.” He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable.

“I see.”

“Do you?” His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he’d accidentally said too much.

“I already knew you were dangerous. Any idiot could see that. It's why most of the student body avoid you. They can sense it, even subconsciously. It’s why they don’t even notice my weirdness, they’re too distracted by yours. But I don’t think you’re bad.” Bella replied, not at all unnerved by him, which was odd to Edward. People were always unnerved by him, but apparently not in this case. If anything, Edward was unnerved by her perceptiveness.

“You’re wrong.” His voice was almost inaudible.

Bella shook her head. “I’ve known bad people Edward, very bad people. You’re not one of them. Or if you once were, you’re not now.” Edward stared at her, his eyes wide with surprise, an almost vulnerable expression on his face. He looked like he was going to say something but chose not to. She just wanted to hug him, her feelings towards him were almost… motherly.

Bella looked around the cafeteria and noticed it was almost empty, which made her sigh as she slowly rose to her feet. “We’re going to be late.” Fuck school was boring.

“I’m not going to class today,” he said.

“Why not?”

“It’s healthy to ditch class now and then.” He smiled up at her, but his eyes were still troubled.

Bella tilted her head. “What’s happening in class that you don’t want to do?”

Edward shrugged. “I just feel like ditching.”

Bella thought for a second and then smirked. “We’re doing blood typing today, aren’t we?” She said it as if it explained everything, which made Edward almost jolt in surprise. It wasn’t odd to assume that was the topic of todays class, as the teacher had been hinting at it for the last week, but for Bella to know that that was why he wasn’t going, was a troubling conclusion to come to.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Edward said as evenly as he could.

Bella laughed as she began to turn away from him. “Everything, Edward. It has everything to do with everything.” She really enjoyed teasing him back. Now he got to suffer through cryptic comments!


	11. Blood, I Vant to Suck Your Blood-- oOoOwoooOOOOOO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is irrelevant in this case. It's 2:39am. Cut me some slack.

Bella Swan felt utterly ridiculous. Here she was, being led out of the classroom by Mike, because she couldn’t handle the smell of all that blood, on top of the rowdiness of the class. It was stupid. The smell of it, it just brought her back, to memories she had repressed. 

Boston, Massachusetts. 

Magic. Violence. Blood.

All Bella remembered was flashed, half remember thoughts and feelings. The emotions of fear, flashes of adrenaline. She didn’t even know what her mind was trying to repress, so clearly it had worked, if her brain was repressing something to protect itself. 

Just why did it have to happen in the middle of biology class? Bella never fainted or felt ill at the sight/smell of blood before. She got her period like every other girl her age on the planet. What was it about these circumstances that got to her so badly? 

Then, the voice she had least wanted to hear, was heard in the distance.

“What’s going on? Is she okay?” 

Ugh, fuck you Edward. Like he needs more ammunition to make fun of me. 

“Go away, Edward.” Bella groaned, attempting to pull away from Mike. Suddenly, she was being lifted through the air and pressed against something hard. Clearly, Edward had just picked her up. “I’m not some damsel in distress, _Ed_ ward.”

“Stupid vampire.” She added, under her breath. That made Edward pause briefly.

“Hey, I’m supposed to take her!” Mike protested. 

“It’s okay, Newton. I got her from here.” Edward replied, to Bella he said, “I thought he was dragging your dead body off to bury in the woods.”

“Ha ha.” Bella said, enunciating the syllables. “And you know he wasn’t. You would have heard that.”

Edward blinked, but ignored her statement. “Honestly, I’ve seen corpses with better colour. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder.”

“Poor Mike, I’ll bet he’s mad.”

“He positively loathes me.” Edward said, almost gleefully. “I still couldn’t leave you with him.” 

“Put me down, I can walk the rest of the way.” 

Edward placed Bella gingerly back on her feet and they walked the last few steps into the office. 

“What are you two doing out of class?” Mrs Cope asked, almost accusatory. 

“They’re doing blood typing in Biology.” Edward explained. 

“Ah, I see, there’s always one. Come on, Miss Swan. You can go back to class, Mr Cullen.” 

“I’m supposed to stay with her,” Edward said it with such authority, that Mrs Cope couldn’t help but allow him to do as he wished.

The pair of them were led into the back part of the office that served as the sickbay. 

“Let me get you an ice pack, dear.” Mrs Cope said, bustling out of the room.

Edward grinned at Bella. “I can’t believe you faint at the sight of blood.” 

Bella rolled her eyes. “I don’t faint at the sight of blood okay. It’s the smell. It makes me nauseous and woozy.” 

“Humans can’t smell blood.” Edward denied. 

“Yeah, well I can.” 

“So it was just the smell that made you...woozy?” 

“Well, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Look, you’re not a good enough friend to unlock my tragic backstory, okay? Please just leave it alone.”

Edward raised his hands in submission. “Alright, I’m sorry.” 

Bella smiled softly back at him. “It’s okay, you weren’t to know.” 

A few moments later, Mrs Cope was back with an ice pack. “Here you go dear. Why don’t you lie back and rest for a moment.”

Bella nodded and Mrs Cope went back to her desk on the other side of the room divider. 

They were silent. Bella didn’t think that Edward didn’t want to bring up her ‘stupid vampire’ comment from before, obviously not ready to open that can of worms. Bella was already feeling better, just from sitting there, out of that environment. She didn’t need the ice pack anymore. 

But suddenly Edward leapt to his feet. “Bella, go outside. Go outside right now.” 

Bella, who had just copped the smell of blood, didn’t need to be told twice. Mike had brought another boy in, who seemed to be close to fainting. Bella hurried past them and out through the door. Breathing in the cool air, free from the scent of blood, Bella relaxed a bit. 

Before she could say anything to Edward, the door opened again and Mike stepped out. 

“Hey Bella, you feeling better?” 

“Yeah, as long as you keep your hand in your pocket.” Bella replied tersely. 

“It’s not even bleeding anymore. You coming back to class?” 

“Are you kidding? I’d have to turn around and come right back.”

“I suppose. Hey, while I remember, I just wanted to let you know that a whole group of us are going down to First Beach this weekend, since the weather will be nice. I was hoping you could come too.”

Bella smiled. “Sure, that sounds cool.” 

Mike angled his body, as if he was trying to cut Edward out of the conversation. “Okay, cool. We’re meeting on Saturday at about eleven at my dad’s sporting goods store.” 

“Okay, no worries.” Bella replied. 

“Cool. I’ll see you in Gym then.” Mike said, before giving Edward a small nod, and then walking away. 

“Ugh, Gym.” Bella groaned once Mike was gone.

“I can take care of that. Go sit down and look pale.” Edward said. It was quite easy for Bella to do since she was still feeling a little nauseous. Bella heard Edward at the counter.

“Ms Cope?”

“Yes?”

“Bella has Gym next hour, and I don’t think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?” His voice was like melting honey. Bella could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.

“Do you need to be excused too Edward?” Ms Cope fluttered.

“No, I have Mrs Goff. She won’t mind.”

“Okay, it’s all taken care of. You feel better, Bella.” She called to her. Bella nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit.

Bella stood carefully and followed Edward to the carpark.

“Thanks,” Bella said as they walked.

“Anytime.”

Edward led Bella to his car. “I’ll take you home. Give me your keys, and I’ll have Alice drop your car back.

Bella looked unsure. “I don’t want to put her out.”

Edward smiled, almost indulgently. “She’ll be happy to do it.”

Bella pulled out her keys and handed them to Edward. “Okay, if it’s not too much trouble.”

They both slid into the car, Edward fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the car park, Bella recognised the music playing.

“Clair de Lune?” Bella asked softly.

“You know Debussy?” He sounded surprised.

Bella nodded. “Yeah I used to listen to it all the time while I studied. It’s beautiful and calming. But I am a little more partial to Tchaikovsky, but this is one of my favourites.”

They drove mostly in silence. Edward clearly didn’t feel like talking about how Bella knew he was a vampire or how she had figured out he could read minds. And for that, Bella was grateful. She was still coming to terms with the fact that Edward, thus Dr Cullen, was a vampire. From what Bella had read, she knew that vampires couldn’t use magic in the traditional sense, though some of them were blessed with Gifts, like Edward’s ability to read minds. So, Dr Cullen couldn’t have weaved a spell on Bella, because vampires couldn’t use that kind of magic. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a Gift that could do something like that. She would need to confront the Cullens’ about this, sooner or later.

Bella wondered what being a vampire was like. No witch had ever become a vampire, because of the uncertainty of whether or not they get to keep their powers. No witch has ever wanted to risk it. So much so, it’s actually illegal for witches to attempt the Change, because the results of it were and are impossible to know. 

Soon enough, they were at Bella’s house. They exchanged pleasantries, but nothing more. Edward was clearly in his head also. Perhaps they could talk more tomorrow.


	12. Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not super proud of the last chapter, but then I did post it at twenty to three in the morning. This chapter is a little all over the place as well. I have got a semi-solid plan of where I want this fic to go. The journey getting there might be a little rough though.

Bella had strange dreams, nightmares, half-remembered emotions. She tossed and turned all night, hearing screams in her mind. Blood-curdling cries, of which Bella had never before heard in her life. She awoke frequently, feeling confused and frightened. She didn’t even comprehend some of the things she saw. They didn’t feel like normal nightmares, garbled nonsense, a dump of useless information as her brain processed her day. They felt like memories. From the fragmented images, Bella recognised rituals, but they looked...wrong. Perverted. She felt bile rising up her throat. A part of Bella was conscious in this sleep state, and she desperately didn’t want to be there. 

‘Wake up, wake up, wAKE UP!’

Bella leapt from her bed and raced to the bathroom to vomit in the toilet. She washed her face and rubbed her temples, attempting to calm her body down. When she awoke fully, Bella attempted to sketch the images, but she didn’t understand half the things she had seen. Symbols, faces and creatures she didn’t recognise. Demons? Red eyed monsters with diamond skin. She eventually gave up, giving into her frustration. The things she _had_ managed to sketch were pretty horrific. Dead bodies, sacrifices, and blood, so much blood. Ugh, the nausea threatened to come up again.

What really confused Bella was how she had even witnessed these things in the first place. Nonna hadn’t been a dark witch, and neither had Renee, obviously as she wasn’t a witch. Bella herself had never practiced dark magic either. Bella’s mind ran through many possible theories, from re-incarnation to her just going batshit insane. What the hell was going on with her? Bella looked through the grimoire to see if there was any help to be found, but there were only potions to help you fall asleep, spells to knock someone unconscious. Nothing to help with nightmares. She wished that the dreamless-sleep potion from _Harry Potter_ was real, it would be pretty fucking useful, if she kept having these nightmares. 

Bella only had these visions twice. Maybe they’d fade eventually? Lots of people had periods in their lives where they had nightmares. 

Like always, Bella had decided to just ignore it. She had other things to worry about, like her schoolwork and her witchcraft. Carlisle. Yeah, it probably wasn’t very healthy coping strategy, and Bella was fucking well aware of that, but she just didn’t have time to cope and deal with it. It was six am, and Bella heard Charlie getting ready to leave. She didn’t want to go downstairs this early. He would have known something was up. It wasn’t that Bella didn’t want Charlie to know when important things happened in her life, but she just wanted to hide this from him. He already had enough on his plate, Bella didn’t really want to add her problems to the mix. But while Bella had stubbornly decided that she could handle it on her own, well. Her heart was longing for her to tell Carlisle about her nightmares, to break down in his arms, sobbing and crying, baring her soul to him; somehow knowing that he would understand. But Bella scoffed at those silly, teen romance notions. What would she even say to him? 

‘Ah, Dr Cullen, hi. I know we only met just the once, but I want to curl up in your lap and cry to you about my problems while you stroke my hair and whisper sweet things to me.’ 

Yeah, that would go down well(!) 

With an angry growl, Bella started preparing for the new day. 

A part of her just wanted to stay home, maybe try and get some more sleep. But Bella feared sleep just as much as she longed for it. 

Besides, if she didn’t show up for school today, the next day would be even worse. Especially after her ‘fainting’ episode. When really, it was more like a PTSD flashback to a trauma Bella didn’t even fully remember.

And Edward would probably worry. That made a little niggle of guilt drop into the bottom of her stomach. She didn’t want the old man (probably) to wonder why she hadn’t shown. So, with that thought in mind, Bella forced herself to go to school.

Of course, Jessica immediately told her she looked like trash and offered her some concealer to hide the undereye bags. Bella just smiled softly and declined. Jessica’s concealer would be way too dark anyway. But, to Bella’s surprise, none of the Cullens’ were at school that day. 

“They probably won’t be here for the rest of the week either.” Jessica said, almost sneering. 

Bella frowned. “And why’s that?”

“When the weather is nice, Dr and Ms Cullen pull them all out of school and they go camping and have family time.” Angela replied, smiling softly. 

“I tried that on my parents once, not a chance.” Jessica complained. 

Bella became lost in thought. That was so...wholesome. That the kids get pulled out of class to spend family time together. She just imagined Dr Cullen, the epitome of a good father figure. But then Bella suddenly remembered. They were vampires. 

According to what Bella had read in the grimoire, vampires avoided going out in sunlight. Not because of the dumb mortal myths that they’d burn up in the sun, but that they actually reflected sunlight. Made them really stand out. It would be obvious to anyone that saw them in sunlight that they weren’t human.

Most Fae subclasses had their own rulers. In the case of vampires, it was the Volturi, a massive coven ruled by three brothers who were said to be thousands of years old. Their strictest law was to keep from being discovered at all costs. No mortal could learn the secret, and if they did, they either had to be turned or killed. Though, vampires were supposed to have red eyes, and the Cullens’ had golden eyes. Bella still hadn’t figured out why that was the case yet. A mutation? Or maybe something to do with their diet? If Bella wanted the answer to these questions, she knew she would just have to ask them directly eventually. Bella didn’t know how she would even go about asking those sorts of questions anyhow. 

‘Hey, guys. You don’t know me from Eve, besides from Edward sort of saving me kind of, but I’ve figured out that you’re vampires, do you want to do an exclusive interview for me?’ That would go down swimmingly, especially since it would probably end with Bella no longer breathing. With the way Bella’s thought processes go, she was very glad that Edward probably couldn’t read her mind. He would most likely find her so much weirder than he already did. 

So, on one hand, Bella was glad that the Cullens’ weren’t there for her to do something rash towards them in her current sleep deprived state. On the other hand, she did really want to grill Edward. She wondered what he thought about the magical barrier that she had created, if he had put two and two together and realised she was a witch, or if he just thought she had a Gift that was manifesting strongly while she was still human. 

Witches definitely knew vampires existed, but did vampires know witches existed? She more wondered what Dr Cullen would think of her being a witch. Would he think she was crazy too? Oh, once again, Bella wished she had had an excuse to go back and see Dr Cullen again. Did he also feel this way about her, the way she was feeling about him? Every time she thought about him, her chest ache somehow increased and soothed all at once. She needed to find a way to talk to him, without Charlie or anyone else knowing. Bella didn’t want them getting the wrong idea about her, about Dr Cullen. Whatever this connection that had formed between them, it felt pure. 

Bella shook her head. She was supposed to be focusing on school, not mooning over some doctor that she only met once!


	13. Bella Actually Asks For Help With Her Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BIG BIG DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE, THEIR RITUALS OR THEIR RELIGION  
> I don't want to cause any disrespect or anything because I've called something the incorrect name. Please know that there has been no offence intended. If you know better about something I've written or I've written something offensive, please leave it in the comments and I will do my best to correct anything that may be culturally incorrect or offensive. I am very willing to learn and correct mistakes and/or misconceptions.
> 
> So, with that said, I hope you still enjoy this chapter.

As the day of the beach gathering grew nearer and nearer, the tenser Bella became. She still hadn’t been sleeping well, despite meditating and using magic to expend some of the build-up. Her body had grown used to hiding her scent and heartbeat, so now that Edward wasn’t at school, she hadn’t had to do that. Her magic reserves were overflowing, and she needed to expel that energy. She had been using magic for even the little things now, to keep up with her growing powers. There was a plus side though, with all her practise of magic, her control was getting better and better. She was turning invisible unintentionally less and less, and her delicacy when moving objects with her magic/mind became more and more precise. Despite not having any more training from an older, more experienced witch or warlock, her skills were only improving. 

If only these nightmares would stop, Bella would be over the moon. If anything, they were getting worse and worse. She’d been having to start putting an invisible bubble of silence over her bed each night, so Charlie wouldn’t be woken by her screams. Bella wished she could tell someone about the nightmares, but there was no one who would understand. No one here had magic, no one would take her nightmares for being anything more than nightmares. Bella had never been one to have visions of the future. Nonna had tried to teach her how to see future visions in flames, but Bella could never get the hang of it. The best she could do was scry, which was looking into a bowl of water, a mirror or flames and seeing a vision of the present, where a particular person was at that moment in time. But no future visions. Maybe she was scrying in her sleep? Maybe there was someone somewhere out there, doing these awful things and Bella was just along for the ride? There were so many possibilities, but Bella hadn’t studied dreams with Nonna before she died, so she had no idea where to start. 

These were the thoughts that plagued her as she drove out to Newton’s Outfitter’s.

Mike seemed ecstatic to see Bella when she showed up, much to her chagrin. Mike had called shotgun on Bella’s behalf, so she would be up front with him while he drove, but luckily, because of the number of people who showed up, Bella managed to get Jessica smooshed in between them. Bella didn’t want Mike, and she also didn’t want Jessica to be hurt. It was the best solution she could come up with. Besides, Bella wanted to sit by the window and wind it down all the way, to get as much sunlight as she could while it was out. 

Bella hoped that being down by the beach would be soothing for her, away from the town and into nature. Feel the Olde Magick. Maybe it could be rejuvenating for her as well. She would try just about anything to stop these nightmares. Aside from actually asking someone for help. 

The beach itself was beautiful, but definitely still too cold to actually swim in. Mike got a fire pit going, the salt in the driftwood making the fire spark in pretty colours. Bella volunteered to go to the rockpools when Tyler, Mike, Jessica, and Lauren committed to staying with the fire. Lauren was wearing the wrong sort of shoes to go hiking. 

So, Bella and Angela followed the others over through the thicket of trees and forest that led to the tide pools. Bella had always loved the tide pools when she visited La Push when she was little. Not much had changed, they were still so fascinating to her. They were like their own little biomes, little worlds filled with life. Bella dipped her fingers into the water, and she could practically feel the ancient life magic through every tiny wave. It felt so vibrant and alive, it made Bella feel happy and peaceful. 

The group soon left and wandered back through the thicket and back out onto the beach where the rest of the group was congregated around the fire. Some new faces had arrived and judging by their silky black hair and warmer skin tones, teenagers from the reservation had joined them. Bella’s face lit up into a bright smile when she recognised one of those faces. 

“Jacob!” Bella exclaimed, walking over to the younger boy. 

He smiled back as he stood and pulled Bella into a light hug. “Hey Bells, long time, no see.” He gestured to the other boys that had joined them. “That’s Sam, Jared, Embry and Quil.”

Bella smiled and said, “Hello,” 

“So, why haven’t you come to visit me here on the Rez yet, Bella?” Jacob asked jokingly, though Bella noticed the slight hesitant undertone. 

“Oh, you know, new school, new town. Just been busy trying to settle in. I was hoping to see you here today though.” Bella replied warmly. 

“You know Bella, Jacob?” Lauren asked, in what Bella imagined was an insolent tone, from across the fire.

“We’ve sort of known each other since childhood.” He said, smiling at Bella again. She smiled warmly back.

“How nice.” She didn’t sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.

“Bella,” She called again, watching her face carefully. “I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn’t anyone think to invite them?” Her expression of concern was unconvincing.

“Do you mean Dr Carlisle Cullen’s family?” the tall, older boy asked before Bella could respond, much to Lauren’s irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.

“Yes, do you know them?” she asked condescendingly, turning halfway towards him.

“The Cullens don’t come here.” He said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.

Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren’s opinion on a CD he held. She was distracted.

Bella turned to Jacob, wanting to get away from Lauren. “You wanna go for a walk?”

Jacob grinned. “Sure, honey.” 

The pair got up, and Bella pointedly ignored the sneers from Lauren and her clique. 

When they got far enough away, Bella sighed a breath of relief. “So, she’s a bit, um…” 

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘bitch’.” Jacob chortled. 

Bella slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Language Jacob, you should never call a woman a bitch, no matter how much she may deserve it.” Which made Jacob laugh even harder. 

“Yeah, well, she and her friends come down here a lot. Real stuck up. I think it’s cos her dad owns a bank or something.” 

Bella shrugged. “Being well off shouldn’t be an excuse to be a dick.” 

“Preach, sis.” Jacob replied. The pair of them walked over to a large, beached tree and sat down. It had turned completely white, and its roots stuck out at all angles, like a dead spider.

They chatted for a little while about Jacob’s sisters and where they were and how their lives were going. Jacob also talked animatedly about the Volkswagen Rabbit that he was restoring. 

Bella lost focus for a moment and she felt her anxiety about sleeping pick up slightly. However, a thought quickly occurred to her. “Hey, Jake. I really don’t mean this to come across as it sounds, but you wouldn’t happen to have any honest to goodness shamans or witch doctors on the Rez? I don’t know what they’re official title would be. Priest?” 

“Ah, I think you mean like a Medicine Man. Witch Doctors are from Africa and Shamans are more Asian in descent, I think. Though, why do you want to see one?” Jacob asked, his head tilted in confusion. 

Bella took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone before.” 

Jacob looked concerned. “What is it, Bells?” 

“Just bear with me at first. You’re not going to believe me, but wait and let me prove it to you, okay?” Bella asked. 

“Of course, Bella.” 

Bella rolled up her sleeve and held out her hand. She closed her eyes and focused. She felt the magic rush through her and knew the minute her fingers started becoming translucent. Slowly, but surely, her hand turned invisible. Jacob gasped so loudly; it was almost a yelp. “You see, Jacob,” Bella said, opening her eyes. “I’m a witch.” 

Jacob’s jaw was hanging open as he stared at the empty space where Bella’s hand used to be. “Oh my god.” He said slowly, his eyes wide. “Is this a new development?” He said in an overly calm tone. 

Bella shook her head, closing her eyes briefly to make her hand visible again. “I’ve known I was a witch since I was very little. My Nonna, well, she was a witch too. For some reason, it skipped a generation. Renee isn’t a witch, but I am.” 

“Okay, so if you’ve known this all your life, why do you need to see a Medicine Man?” 

“Well, I’ve been having the most horrific nightmares as of late. Sometimes, I wake up screaming. I’ve had to put a silencing spell around my bed, so it doesn’t wake up Charlie. But they don’t feel like just your average night terrors. They almost feel like _memories_. 

The first time it happened, I was awake. It was like a PTSD episode. We were doing blood typing in biology, and the smell of blood mixed with how rowdy the class was being triggered something. At first they were just flashes, terrifying after-images. They made me feel woozy and nauseous. Then, I started dreaming about them. 

Every night since, I’ve had these nightmares. I’ve tried sketching out what I see in these, these visions, but I don’t even understand what I’m looking at half the time. I’m not sleeping, Jake. It’s so terrifying.” Bella blurted out. It felt like a dam releasing, a veritable flood of feelings and emotions were running through her. Relief at finally telling someone. 

Instead of freaking out or telling her she was crazy, Jacob pulled Bella into a tight hug. “It’s okay honey, let it out.” Bella didn’t realise at first that she was crying. 

And while Jacob’s arms were nice and warm, making her feel safe and protected, they weren’t the arms her chest was literally aching for. 

After a few moments, Bella collected herself. “I keep pouring through Nonna’s grimoire to see if there is anything to explain these visions, but I’ve found nothing. I’ve considered everything from repressed trauma, to memories from a past life, to subconsciously scrying in my sleep. But I don’t know where to begin and I’m not experienced enough of a witch to figure it out on my own. I have no guidance, no one to teach me how to deal with this. No one I trust. Nonna was teaching me, training me, but she died six years ago. There’s still so much I don’t know and don’t understand.” 

“So that’s why you want a Medicine Man, to see if they can help you figure it out.” Jacob summarised. 

Bella nodded. “Exactly.”

“There really aren’t any other witches you can trust?” Jacob asked.

Bella shook her head. “No. There are other True Witches of course. There’s a big community of them in Boston, Massachusetts. But I don’t trust them at all. And they hate me.”

Jacob frowned. “Why do they hate you?”

Bella shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Maybe those two things are connected. Like, these visions and why those other witches hate you.” 

“Maybe. But I won’t know for sure until I can find out what these visions mean. That’s why I need to see a Medicine Man, a True Wielder of the Olde Magicks of this region.” 

“Well, I’ll talk to our Medicine Man first, just to see if they can help you. I’ll call you with their number so you can set up a time to work this out.” Jacob said. This time it was Bella who initiated the hug, and she did so with all her might. 

“Thanks Jake, I’ll do anything to actually fucking sleep.” 

“Don’t worry about it. And I also won’t tell anyone you’re a witch. That’s your secret.” 

Bella squeezed him once more before she released him from the hug. 

And then the sound of beach rocks clattering against each other warned them that someone was approaching. Bella and Jacob’s heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking towards them.

“There you are Bella,” Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike’s voice. Bella was surprised it was so obvious.

“No, definitely not,” Bella whispered, winking at him, which made Jacob chuckle softly. Bella was tremendously grateful to Jacob, and she wanted him to know that.

“So when you get your license…” she began.

“I should come see you in Forks. We could hang out sometime.” Jacob replied eagerly. Bella grinned; she really did enjoy Jacob’s company. He and Angela were already very high on her list of friends. And with telling Jacob about her secret, he might have just been elevated to ‘best friend’ status. 

Mike reached the pair now, with Jessica still a few paces behind. Bella could see his eyes appraising Jacob and looking satisfied at his obvious youth.

“Where have you been?” he asked, though the answer was right in front of him.

“Jacob was just telling me some local stories,” Bella volunteered, skating over the truth with ease. “it was really interesting.” Bella smiled warmly at Jacob and he grinned back.

“Well,” Mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watched their camaraderie. “We’re packing up, it looks like it’s going to rain soon.”

They all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.

“Okay.” Bella jumped up. “I’m coming.”

“It was nice to see you again.” Jacob said, and Bella could tell he was taunting Mike just a bit, which Bella found quite amusing.

“It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I’ll come too.” Bella promised, letting the dig hit Mike like a sharp slap to the face. Hopefully, he’d catch wise that Bella wasn’t interested him. At all. 

His grin stretched across his face. “That would be cool.”

“And thanks.” Bella added earnestly.

Bella pulled up her hood as they tramped across the rocks towards the carpark. A few drops were beginning to fall, making black spot on the stones where they landed. When they got back to the Suburban, the others were already loading everything back in. Bella crawled into the backseat by Angela and Tyler, announcing that she’d already had her turn at shotgun. Angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm and Lauren twisted around in the middle seat to occupy Tyler’s attention, so Bella could simply lay her head back on the seat, closer her eyes and try very hard not to think.


	14. Charlie Is A Good Dad, He Notices Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Charlie POV in this chapter.

Charlie wasn’t stupid. He knew something was going on with Bella. He had noticed how tired she was, the bags around her eyes. It wasn't like she was staying up late, Charlie checked on her every night after she went up to her room, and she was always asleep, though she was tossing and turning a _lot_. Once, he thought he heard her _screaming_. Though, when he’d rushed into her room to see if she was okay, she was silent and still. Charlie had always known there was something odd about the Higginbotham women, he’d heard rumours. There were whispers, ‘devil-worshippers’, ‘witches’ and ‘heathens’. But Renee had never been like that. She said she’d never held stock in that New Age crap. But Marie Higginbotham, she was different. She was kind and loving, wore a quartz necklace and would always know when the next full moon was. And she always seemed to know what was going to happen before it happened. But Charlie didn’t know if he really believed in all that, in witchcraft. Surely Marie’s foreknowledge could just be her years of experience helping her make logical predictions. 

Bella was different from Marie. She burned herbs and left crystals and minerals all around her room. She had hand-woven dream catchers and odd, macabre books. And on the windowsill, there was always a bowl of water and flower petals, or pressed flowers. 

The one thing that worried Charlie the most, was a large leather-bound book among Bella’s small library, one that he vividly remembered belonging to Marie. He had tried to examine the book once, when Bella was out. The book itself was locked, with a strange looking key. And when he held it, he felt...odd. He was almost overwhelmed with the sensation that he should _not_ be holding this book. There was a wrongness about it. It startled Charlie enough that he nearly dropped it when he first picked it up.

Charlie scoffed, tried to brush off these feelings. But it niggled in the back of his mind. What was this book? Was it the source of Bella’s nightmares? Though he dismissed that theory. She must have had this book for years, Bella’s symptoms have only begun recently. 

It hurt Charlie, to know that his own daughter couldn’t come to him with whatever it was that was bothering her. He didn’t understand why she chose to hide it, and to soldier on silently. But then, he considered her character. She had always been quiet, ever since she was little. Charlie knew a lot of that was because of Renee as well as it being a part of her own disposition. Charlie didn’t wholly agree with Renee’s parenting style. He had to admit, he felt a sort of relief when Bella asked to move in with him. Renee had been dragging her across America since Marie decided that they had to leave Boston. It worried him, that Bella’s life was so unstable, because of Renee’s flightiness. He thought, when they finally settled in Phoenix, Arizona, it would be okay. But then Renee got remarried and Charlie was afraid everything would be upended again. And he was right. During their weekly video call, Charlie had noticed that while Bella looked less exhausted, she didn’t sound all that happy. Renee was trying too hard to make Bella more _normal_. But Bella wasn’t normal and Charlie hated that Renee kept trying to change that about her, to fit her idea of what a daughter should be.

When Bella moved back in with him, well, it was the happiest he had ever seen her. But now, she seemed to be falling back into that exhausted sadness. Or at least, that’s what it seemed. He just wished she would talk to him. 

Charlie knew that they never really spoke that much about the deep stuff. Charlie himself wasn’t very good at that kind of thing, but he wanted to be available to his daughter if she was having a hard time. He would do everything he could to help her, even if she was a devil worshipping, heathen witch. 

That was why, after Bella got home from the beach, Charlie had ordered Chinese food and set it out all nice on the small dining table. 

Bella had frozen when she put her keys on the entryway table. Charlie had obviously ordered in, but why was a mystery to her. She quickly washed her hands and joined Charlie at the table.

“Um, so what’s this all about, dad?” Bella asked, her voice a little timid. 

Charlie cleared his throat, a little roughly. “I’ve noticed you’ve been having a hard time recently - please, don’t try to deny it. I can see that you haven’t been sleeping well. I set this whole thing up, to give you the chance to talk to me, if you want.” 

Bella was speechless. She thought she was managing to hide it well, she thought she was coping with it. She hadn’t wanted Charlie to know how she was feeling. “I’ve been having, uh, night terrors, I suppose is the most accurate term.” Bella said, slowly. 

“Do you have any idea what may have triggered this?” Charlie asked gently.

Bella shook her head. “Not for sure. I know it first started after we did blood typing in biology, but I don’t really think that was what triggered it. Blood has never scared me before this. I mean, I want to be a pathologist/medical examiner. I wouldn’t want to do that if a little blood bothered me.” 

Charlie nodded slowly. “Do you...Do you maybe want to go see a doctor about it?” 

Bella sighed. “That’s probably going to be my last port of call. I want to see if they just fade on their own. I’ve been researching it on my own, and it’s not uncommon for girls my age to have night terrors.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want to do. And if you ever need to talk about these night terrors, I’m here for you, okay kid?” 

Bella smiled. “Thanks dad.” She felt genuinely touched that her father was going out of his way to make sure she was okay. Bella still wasn’t used to people actively trying to look after her. 

“That’s what I’m here for, honey.” 

“Oh, and I might start making regular visits down to the Rez. I felt really good after spending the afternoon there. Something about it was really peaceful.” 

Charlie smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it here in Forks. Spend as much time on the Rez as you want if it’s making you feel better, but please get home before curfew.”

“Sure thing, dad.” 

Bella did feel better now that she’d come clean to Charlie, mostly. The idea of going to see a doctor was tempting, especially since the chances of it being Dr Cullen were fairly high. If she went down that route, however, she would have to wait for the weather to grow more miserable, just to make sure he would be working. 

It was strange to think that Bella had only been in Forks for a little over a month, but it was beginning to feel more like home than Arizona ever did.


	15. Ghosts of Christmas Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BIG BIG DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE, THEIR RITUALS OR THEIR RELIGION  
> I don't want to cause any disrespect or anything because I've called something the incorrect name. Please know that there has been no offence intended. If you know better about something I've written or I've written something offensive, please leave it in the comments and I will do my best to correct anything that may be culturally incorrect or offensive. I am very willing to learn and correct mistakes and/or misconceptions.
> 
> So, with that said, I hope you still enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Hmm, visions of future past? I dunno. Magic shit. Please enjoy.

_There was no point to running. It was an act of futility. She couldn’t outrun them. She had tried, but they always caught her and put her back in the cage. They thrived off her fear, it made them stronger. And when she could no longer be scared, when she’d hit the point of numbness, they would take her blood, her hair. Rip her fingernails from her fingers, cut her slice by slice. They would take her organs and use them against her. Write on her skin with ash and bone, symbols of unrest and discord. They would take and take and take and take and take and take and take…._

WaKe Up!

Bella bolted upright in her bed, breathing heavily. She wiped sweat from her brow and tried to calm her body down. She tried to focus on her breathing exercises, to settle the raging magic just below her skin. With a wave of her hand, the light switch flipped, and her room was filled with light. She had to blink a couple of times to get used to the brightness. The electronic alarm clock on her beside said 4:30am, Thursday. As tired as she was, Bella knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. 

Getting up, she headed straight for the shower, in an attempt to soothe her nightmare tightened muscles. She then headed back to her room and dressed before made herself comfortable on the bed, though, not too comfortable. With that, she attempted to meditate on her nightmare, to process what she had experienced. After about 20 minutes, Bella took out her sketchbook and began to draw the things she saw; the cage, the tired legs, angry scratches, bloody clawed hands. These drawings were never happy. Bella had ended up buying a whole separate sketchbook solely for the purpose of drawing her nightmarish visions.

Jacob had called the day before and told her the Medicine Man, or Woman in this case, was prepared to see her that weekend. The Cullen’s still hadn’t returned to school, even though the weather had since changed back to its regularly scheduled program of gloominess. Not that Bella minded per se, the weather now just reflected her mood. 

Bella still forced herself to go to school that day, because even if she was struggling, the routine helped her stay on track and that was the least she could do for her mental health. The Cullens’ had returned to the school, but they all kept their distance, which made Bella oddly sad. Despite not knowing them very well, Bella had grown somewhat fond of the weird vampires. And on the plus side, if her session with the Medicine Woman went poorly, at least Dr Cullen was now an available doctor to help her. Oh, stop. 

The ache in Bella’s chest had been at an all-time high with the Cullens’ gone. She missed Dr Cullen desperately, even though she had only met him once and only managed to see him briefly, at a distance when running errands around Forks. Bella still couldn’t understand how she could be missing a man that she had only ever met once! It was ridiculous. Bella was self-aware enough to know how stupid this was, on top of her nightmares, keeping up with her schoolwork and periodically releasing magic build-up. 

Saturday came up fast, as they days had begun to blur together for Bella. Though the other girls her age were getting excited over the upcoming dance. Jessica was trying to organise a girls night for next week to look for dresses. Bella had tentatively said yes, even if she wasn’t going to the dance. She thought a girls’ night out would have been a great idea, that, much like her trip to La Push, going to Port Angeles and spending time with just girls, could be rejuvenating in its own right. 

Like most days, Bella had been rising before the sun, long before first light. Jacob had given her the address for the Medicine Woman and told her that she was expected fairly early. Good think Bella’s wake up time was more or less centered around 5am. Bella showered and put on comfy clothes. Whatever the Medicine Woman was going to do, it probably would be best if she didn’t wear the fanciest of clothes. This was going to be hard enough without wearing clothes that Bella felt at ease in. 

At quarter to six, Charlie having left to go fishing with Billy and Harry Clearwater at 5:30am, Bella left the house alone and began the drive down to the reservation. Going by the address Jacob had given her, she was indeed going to Harry and Sue Clearwater’s house. That meant that Sue was most likely the tribe’s Medicine Woman. Which made sense, because she _and_ her husband were on the Elders’ Council. 

When Bella arrived, she knocked on the front door, rather ringing the, what Bella remembered as being a very loud doorbell. She didn’t have to wait long, as the door opened almost immediately to reveal Sue Clearwater. She hadn’t changed much, compared to Bella’s memories of her. She had the beginnings of crow’s feet in the corner of her eyes, obviously from smiling too much. She had a very kind face. 

“Hi Sue,” Bella said timidly. 

“Good morning Bella. I hope it finds you well.”

“You as well.” 

“Well, come on through. My well, for lack of a better name, ritual room, is out the back. I converted an old shed, to suit my purposes.” Sue said, leading the girl through the house and out the back door. “Jacob didn’t give me a lot of details, he just said you were suffering from night terrors and that you didn’t think they were something just naturally occurring?”

Bella nodded. “You see, I’m a witch Sue. Through my mother’s mother. These night terrors are a fairly new thing. They only started a couple of weeks ago. It was following a blood typing class in Biology, which is weird, because blood doesn’t normally make me feel faint or woozy.” 

Sue didn’t ask for proof that Bella was a witch, the woman could sense the power coming from the girl. That was a sure enough sign that she was telling the truth.

Sue brought Bella into the converted shed and kneeled down beside a well-ventilated fire. “I have a potion, handed down from my foremothers. It helps you see the unseen within your own mind. You will drink this and meditate on your nightmares, and then you must attempt to scry within the blessed fire. You may meditate as long as you feel you should, but the potion does wear off within five hours. There’s a reason why I wanted you here so early, this ritual can take a lot of time. The potion is supposed to allow you to recount the visions without fear, without emotion. The scrying will be the hardest part, as the potion will allow you to see things you may not want to see. I will be here with you every step of the way, keeping you safe. This shed, once I close the door, will be a completed circle, preventing anything from the inside from escaping outward. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Good. Now this process can be very dehydrating. If at any time you feel like you are going to pass out, or if you do indeed pass out, I am going to call an ambulance and simply say you fainted after a poor night’s sleep. I don’t care that Dr Cullen works up at Forks Hospital, your safety is more important than prejudice. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Bella repeated, trying not to be fazed by their shared understanding of what the Cullens’ were. 

Sue nodded. “Good.” She got up and closed the door to the shed. From the shelf, she took down a mortar and pestle. Inside the mortar was a liquidy sludge that Bella assumed was the potion. “Try to drink as much as you can. The more you drink, the deeper the meditation, the stronger you will be able to scry for answers out in the real world and from within yourself. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Then we will begin the ritual.” 

With a deep breath, strengthening her resolve, she drank the potion. It didn’t taste bad, per se. But it clearly wasn’t something you would consider ‘food’. The sludgy texture of it made it a little hard to swallow, but she forced it down. Bella could feel her magic reacting to the potion, she felt it seeping through her, her aura absorbing it. 

Once she finished drinking, Sue took the mortar from her and rested her hands on Bella’s head. She started chanting in a language, almost singing, in a language that Bella didn’t recognise. She started swaying and pulling Bella along with the motion. Bella closed her eyes and listened to Sue’s voice and allowed herself to let her mind go blank, sinking into her meditation. Bella didn’t really notice when Sue moved away from her, Bella continued the rocking motion. The movement of it helped her focus and remained grounded in the present, despite the memories and visions that she was invoking to the forefront of her mind. 

Bella didn’t know how long she sat there rocking and meditating. For once, she was remembering her dreams and experiencing the visions somewhat detached. The fear and horror that Bella usually felt when she ruminated on her vision was absent. She was finally able to look at these visions rationally, and without being overwhelmed by them. When Bella felt she was ready, she opened her eyes and stared into the fire. 

At first, she saw nothing, just the blue/green flames of beach bleached driftwood. 

But then she saw flashes, moments. 

Finally, one vision began to solidify. She saw Nonna, leaning over Bella. She was wiping her forehead with a damp towel. Going by how Nonna looked, Bella was about eight or nine.

_“Sweetheart, it’s okay. You don’t have to see it anymore. Just let me in and I’ll wash it all away.”_

_“I’m so scared, Nonna.”_

_“Just relax, little one, I’ll make it all better.”_

Another image replaced the first. This time, Bella was peeking around the doorway, listening to Renee and Nonna argue. 

_“Mom, I don’t know what to do, she’s screaming in her sleep. She keeps seeing such awful things in her dreams. I don’t know what to do. Please, you have to help her, with your magic. I can’t take her to a doctor, they’ll think she’s crazy.”_

_“Renee, you must understand that this won’t be permanent. Someday, the block I place is going to unravel. I might not be here to put it back. Bella’s magic will grow too powerful and it will undo my spell. She will begin to remember all of this and the dreams will begin again.”_

_“I don’t care. Please, she needs to just be a kid and forget all this. She’ll be able to handle this better when she’s older.”_

_“Alright, but I think the block will completely unravel by Bella’s eighteenth birthday. That will give her about nine years free of these visions.”_

The vision faded before it moved into another. It transformed into a large room, filled with people. Nonna stood alone on a small podium in front of a large, shadowed Judge’s bench. There were eight shrouded figures seated at the bench.

_“Mrs Marie Higginbotham, you have been censured by this Council. Your actions in this case are unforgivable. Your daughter has suffered, her magic stripped from her. You are lucky that your granddaughter didn’t share the same Fate.”_

_“I cannot regret the course that I took. I would trade my magic, my daughter’s magic, and all of yours if it meant that my granddaughter could live. I could not stand by and let her die. If you believe censure is the correct recourse, that is your prerogative.”_

_“What you have done is against Nature. It was your granddaughter’s Fate to die, you had no right to alter Fate.”_

_“I have to respectfully disagree. I have had a vision of Isabella’s glorious future. You wanted her to die because you fear that future. Don’t pretend otherwise.”_

_“Your sentence has been cast. You are banished from this society. Your granddaughter may visit, no more than a week a year. This Council’s decision is final. Good day.”_

The next vision wasn’t as clear as the first three. It was cold and unsettling. Bella at first thought it was moving into one of her nightmares, but it felt...different. 

_“Higginbotham is a problem, my Lord.”_

_“Hmm, no. She is but a speck.”_

_“But her granddaughter -”_

_“Yes. The granddaughter. Now, she would be a prize.”_

_“We can’t have her growing stronger. She may have the power to challenge us. We have to do something to...hinder her development.”_

_“A curse?”_

_“No, Higginbotham would figure out how to remove it. She has always had a way with cures. It has to be something_ from _the girl.”_

_“Perhaps…?”_

_“Yes. Let her strength, her immense power, be her downfall. The daughter’s magic was stripped. Why don’t we use that power against the very person it saved?”_

_“It will be done, my Lord.”_

Then Bella’s world went black.


	16. A Little Guidance and an Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BIG BIG DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE, THEIR RITUALS OR THEIR RELIGION  
> I don't want to cause any disrespect or anything because I've called something the incorrect name. Please know that there has been no offence intended. If you know better about something I've written or I've written something offensive, please leave it in the comments and I will do my best to correct anything that may be culturally incorrect or offensive. I am very willing to learn and correct mistakes and/or misconceptions.
> 
> So, with that said, I hope you still enjoy this chapter.

“Miss Swan?” Came a beautiful, musical voice. “Bella, can you hear me?

Bella groaned, her eyes slowly opening. She felt a dull pinching in her arm. “Wha? What happened?” 

“Sue Clearwater brought you in today. She said you’ve been having nightmares which have been hindering your sleep, and you passed out from exhaustion.” The wonderful voice continued. 

Bella returned to coherency and realised the owner of that wonderful voice was none other than Dr Carlisle Cullen. Her face was immediately set aflame and her heart began to race. She stared up at him, like a lovesick schoolgirl. Though, Bella supposed, that she _was_ a lovesick schoolgirl. 

“Miss Swan?” Dr Cullen queried. Bella knew he could probably hear her heart rate pick up speed. But she couldn’t exactly muffle the sound now, he would notice its absence. 

“Uh, yes, sorry. I haven’t been sleeping. I went down to the rez to help Sue with some things. I must have passed out.” 

“Yes, that is what she said. You were also severely dehydrated. Have you been drinking enough water?” 

Bella tried to shrug nonchalantly. Just being here with him soothed the ache in her chest and filled her with happy endorphins. “I don’t really know, I haven’t really thought about my water consumption. Though, if you’re saying that I’m dehydrated, then I must not be.” 

“Well, we had to put a line in, a saline drip, to try and bring your hydration levels back up. You woke up as I was taking it out. Now, have you seen a doctor about your nightmares?” 

“It’s not something a doctor can help me with.” Bella said softly, looking down at her hands.

Dr Cullen looked at her with concern. “If it’s not something you’re comfortable with, I won’t push the issue, but I think that maybe some help could be beneficial.” Carlisle, though he knew it wasn’t very ethical, wished Bella would open up to him, more than just as patient/doctor. The things Edward told him about her just wasn’t enough. 

Bella sighed. “It’s not a medical or psychological issue, Dr Cullen. And I don’t think talking about it will help, even if it’s you I’m talking to.” 

Dr Cullen frowned, worry colouring his tone. “What do you mean, it’s not a medical or psychological issue?” 

“I can’t tell you here. It has to do with…” Bella cut herself off. She glanced briefly at her surroundings. Then, as quietly as she could, knowing that he would be able to hear her, she whispered, “I know what you are.” 

Dr Cullen’s eyes widened. “How…?” 

“I can’t tell you, not here.” Bella whispered. “Some secrets have to remain secret. Or some of your king friends might be displeased.” 

Dr Cullen blinked. He cleared his throat and stepped away from Bella. “Well, as long as you’re sure. Just make sure you keep up on your fluids, try to drink at least four cups of water a day. And Edward would love to have you over for that study session on Wednesday. Edward will pick you up in the morning before school and I can drop you home after.” Gods, he was good. For anyone who may have been listening, it sounded innocent enough, but Bella couldn’t help the thrill that went through her from Carlisle inviting her over. 

Bella flushed and smiled shyly at him. “Thank you, Dr Cullen.” 

Carlisle hooked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear, his cool fingers made her shiver, but not from the cold. “My pleasure.” 

He suddenly stepped back from her and moments later, a nurse walked in. 

“Miss Swan is ready to be released, Dr Cullen.”

“Excellent. Thank you Mandy.” Mandy smiled flirtatiously at Dr Cullen, who ignored it, the nurse hid her disgruntled look badly and promptly left. Carlisle turned back to Bella. “Now, please remember to keep up your fluids. Mrs Clearwater is waiting at reception; she’s going to take you home.”

“Thank you for your help, Dr Cullen.” Bella said, hopping down from the bed. She stumbled slightly, but the bliss of Carlisle holding her steady was so worth the slight embarrassment of losing her footing. She was sad at how fast he released her, but she smiled shyly up at him in thanks. “I will see you on Wednesday then.” 

“On Wednesday.” He agreed. 

After collecting her things and waving goodbye to Dr Cullen, Bella headed out to the waiting room, where Sue had been sitting patiently. 

“Hey Sue,” Bella called. “I’m sorry for passing out on you.”

Sue smiled gently. “It’s quite alright Bella.” 

The two women exited the hospital and headed to Sue’s truck. Once inside the cab, Sue turned to face Bella.

“Did you discover the source of your visions?” 

Bella sighed. “Yes and no. As much as I got answers, I feel like I have a whole new lot of questions.” 

Sue nodded. “I thought that might be the case. However, I don’t think another session will help you. Perhaps you should discuss your nightmares with someone you trust. Even if it will not lessen the vision themselves, but it might elevate the emotional burden.” 

Bella thought about her upcoming meeting with Carlisle. She smiled gently at Sue. “Yes, I have some time set aside to discuss this with someone I know will understand.”

“I am glad. Now, I think it’s time I brought you home. You should take the day to rest. What you’ve just experienced was very draining. I’ll tell Charlie that I had you moving furniture and you were too tired to drive home. I’ll get Leah to drop your car back for you.”

“Thank you so much Sue. I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, just let me know, please.”

Sue pulled Bella into a one-armed hug. “Please, sweetheart. I was happy to do this for you. I’ve known you since you were a little girl. You can always come to me for help.”

Bella was touched, her eyes watered slightly. “Thank you,” Bella said roughly. 

They drove back to Bella’s house in comfortable silence. 

“Well, here we are.” Sue said, congenially.

“Thank you again, Sue. And please, if there is anything that I can do for you, let me know.”

“I heard your grandmother died six years ago. Was she your mentor? In witchcraft?” Sue asked.

Bella nodded. “Yes, I was in training with her. But that obviously ceased when she passed.” 

“Well, my Leah has no intention of replacing me as a Medicine Woman when I eventually pass. I would like to pass on some of the teachings on to you. Of course, as an outsider and a pale face, you couldn’t become a Medicine Woman yourself. But I think a little bit of instruction could help you progress in your studies. I may not possess the amount of magic that you do, but I know much about spirituality and the theory of more natural magics.” 

Bella gaped at her. “Is that even allowed? For you to teach me? I don’t want to offend the tribe or the Elders.” 

Sue laughed lightly. “You let me worry about the Elders. I’m not training you to become a Medicine Woman. I’m not going to be teaching you our sacred customs or legends, I won’t be sharing tribe secrets. They’ll have nothing to complain about. And you need guidance. I couldn’t be a Medicine Woman, if I didn’t help someone I deemed worthy. Pale face or not.” 

Bella pulled Sue into a tight hug. “Thank you so much. I just… I’ve felt so lost, in regards to my witchcraft. I don’t know where to go next with it. I can’t...I can’t go to the witches in Boston, especially after what I know now.” Bella felt like she might cry. Someone wanted to help her, to help her learn, because they thought she was worthwhile. 

Sue pulled back and smiled motherly at Bella. “It would be my honour to guide a witch with such potential. We should try to meet at least once a week, but I understand if other things get in the way.” 

“Thank you,” Bella said again. “And yes, that would be amazing.” She was speechless, she didn’t know what to say. 

Sue smiled and patted Bella’s cheek. “Of course honey. Now git. You need your rest.” 

With one last hug, Sue shooed her from the car and Bella went upstairs to think.


	17. Fluffy Bella Filler

Bella collapsed onto her bed when she made it upstairs. She didn’t know where to begin. 

Obviously, she had suffered from these visions before and Renee had begged Nonna to place some sort of block in her mind to stop her from having them. 

The next mind-blowing thing was that Renee had had magic?! And had it stripped from her because of some sort of spell that Nonna had cast to save Bella’s life? And Nonna had had a vision of ‘a glorious future’ for her? And when was she dying? Why didn’t Nonna and Renee tell her any of this? There was just so much information thrown at her all at once. 

But the last vision, the most unsettling of them all. The voices of the men had been so cruel, unfeeling, predatory. From how they talked about magic, they must have been warlocks, but Bella didn’t know of any warlocks with the title of ‘Lord’, outside of the Council. But surely, none of the Council would sanction anything bad to happen to her, right?

What Nonna said, about Bella’s supposed ‘glorious future’, worried her, especially when Nonna had stated that the Council was afraid of it. Were the Council so afraid of this future that they were willing to let Bella die to prevent it? And they banished Nonna for saving her life? What the hell? It made Bella’s meagre trust in the Council reduce even further. Did they still want her dead? Or did they think these visions that one of them may or may not have inflicted on her, be enough to stop this ‘glorious future’? 

Bella still didn’t know what the ‘Lord’ and the other man had done to her. They said it wasn’t a curse, but it came _from_ her. That they used the ambient magic that Renee had given up to use against her. Maybe whatever they had done, was being powered by her own magic. Perhaps the only way to break the visions was to lose her magic. 

The thought of losing her magic was painful, devastating. She had heard stories of witches losing their magic, how it changed them fundamentally. Maybe that was why Renee was the way she was. Losing her magic had changed her, made her harebrained and scattered. Nonna had often said that Renee hadn’t always been this way, maybe this is what she had meant. 

She needed to call Renee. Talk to her, get the answers to these new questions. 

Gods, Bella was tired. She felt her eyelids drooping and her body growing heavy. She resolved to call Renee in the morning, when she wasn’t so exhausted. 

Bella fell asleep almost immediately. 

It wasn’t until the next day that Bella woke up, much to her surprise. The session with Sue must have really taken it out of her. Her first move was to shower and eat. She had actually slept through the night, no visions and no nightmares. It was a relief to have at least one night of peaceful sleep. 

Charlie was gone by the time she made it down the stairs, according to the note, he was out fishing again. And Bella was kind of glad. She didn’t want to have to explain to him why she had slept for so long. All she wanted to do that Sunday was relax and think about happy things, like her upcoming meeting with Carlisle. She had wanted to ask Edward about the hole that had formed in her chest after she met Carlisle, but something had held her back, telling her that she should wait for the opportunity to ask Carlisle about it himself. And now, that coming Wednesday afternoon, Bella would finally get that chance. 

Once downstairs, using her magic, Bella summoned all the dirty clothes from the hampers and set it down to the washing machine, which then scooped cold-wash soap powder and the machine turned itself on. Then, the dishes that Charlie was too tired to do the night before, started placing themselves down into the sink, and the tap turned on, already set to hot. Two pieces of bread flew from the packet and into the toaster and set to cooking, while the butter and jam floated sedately out of the fridge. The kettle flicked on, set to boil, so Bella could have some calming jasmine tea. 

Bella loved it when she used her magic to do mundane things, it just made her life feel like she was in a Disney movie, or maybe _Howl’s Moving Castle_. Sometimes, there were days where Bella didn’t use magic, and did everything how mortals did. The days she used magic for all the little things, were the days Bella felt most like herself. At her most relaxed. 

That was one plus side to living in Forks, the houses were so far spaced, Bella didn’t have to close the curtains and blinds to make sure no one saw her magic. It was a freedom she hadn’t experienced, ever. Despite everything that had happened the day before, that Sunday was shaping up to be a really good day. Bella hadn’t felt that peaceful for a long time. Even the ache in her chest, that had been mostly soothed by seeing Dr Cullen the day before, only twinged slightly. Her good mood must only have been boosted by the knowledge that she would be able to see Dr Cullen again very soon. 

Bella didn’t know the source of these feelings that had enveloped her when she had first met Dr Cullen. And they had only grown as time passed. Bella didn’t believe it was some sort of spell weaved by a vampire Gift. But she had no clue as to what it could be. All she knew was that it was powerful and vibrant. It felt as if this feeling had added colour to her world, new shades that she didn’t recognise and had never seen before. Bella had noticed the fondness in which Dr Cullen had treated her, asked her to call him by his first name. How he had tenderly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Maybe he felt these things too? A large part of her hoped that he did, that she wasn’t alone in these feelings. 

Overall, she was excited. She had managed to push through the negativity she had been feeling these last few weeks. Though, Bella didn’t know how much of that was her own perseverance and how much was from the results of a decent nights’ sleep. Was she only feeling this good because she had managed to sleep through the night without waking up or nightmares, or was she feeling good because she was overcoming her issues? Could it even have been because Bella got to see Carlisle? Had merely being in his presence for a few hours really have chased the visions away?

Whatever the cause, Bella was grateful. She decided against calling Renee that day. She didn’t want to think about her visions, even just for one day.

It seemed as if things were looking up.


	18. A Shitty Filler Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nightmares are back, but why did they stop, even briefly? Did the good doctor have more effect on Bella than we thought?

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

How could she be so stupid?

Of course, it was too good to last. Bella had been naive, too happy, too optimistic. How could she just have assumed things would be okay again that night? How could she have thought her reprieve from nightmares would be more than just one night? She had, stupidly, forgotten to reapply her silencing spell. 

Charlie had rushed into her bedroom at about 3am, because Bella had been screaming her head off, of course. 

Now, at 6:30am, Charlie was looking at her like she would break at any second, as if she was moments from mental collapse. Bella sighed over her coffee, trying to ignore her father’s concerned glance. 

“You haven’t had a nightmare that bad in a while, Bells.” He said softly. “If you need to stay home from school today, it will be okay.” 

Bella shook her head. “No, I want to go to school.” 

“You need your rest, Bells. You can’t function on only a few hours of rest.” 

Bella snorted. “As if this is the worst night I’ve ever had(!)” 

Charlie’s concern grew deeper. “Just how long have you been having these nightmares, Bells?” 

Bella shrugged. “I used to have them a lot when I was very little. They’ve just started back up again a few months ago.” Sure, she was fudging the truth, but Bella didn’t want Charlie thinking she’d only started having these nightmares since being back in Forks. She didn’t want there to be even the slightest chance that he would blame himself. 

“Before you came to Forks?” 

“Yes dad. Besides, I want to go to school. It will help me keep my mind off...things.” 

Charlie sighed. “Okay, if you think it will help, then go. But if you start feeling bad, you come straight home and rest.” 

“Yes, dad.” Bella said with a weak smile. “I’m also going out Tuesday night with Jessica Stanley, Angela Webber and Lauren Mallory. Is that okay?”

“Of course, honey. I’m glad you’re getting out there and making girlfriends. Just make sure to be home by 9pm. It is a school night, after all.” 

Charlie left for work not long after, murmuring his goodbye with a concerned glance. 

Bella, wanting to go to school but still feeling fragile, wrapped herself up in as many layers as she could and stomped out to her truck. The roar of the engine did nothing but unsettle her further, but she gritted her teeth and began the short drive to school. As she drove, the clouds began to move, and a peek of blue sky and sunlight shone through the small opening. Bella grinned at seeing the blue, but then she remembered. Blue sky meant no Cullens’. No Cullens’ meant no possibility of even glimpsing Carlisle Cullen in town when she did her grocery shopping that night. Her meagre good mood quickly soured even further at the thought of not seeing the family that had slowly been rising up her ‘trust’ list, even if they were vampires. Bella could only assume that they must find a non-traditional way to feed, since there weren’t any bodies dropping in the immediate area. Though, if they were feeding from humans, their eyes would go from black to bright red, not black to bright gold. 

The day went slowly, Jessica chattering excitedly about the girls night she had scheduled for the next night. It was supposed to be Jessica, Angela, Lauren and Bella, but Lauren had to cancel. Which she was grateful for. 

Bella intercepted a few unfriendly glances from Lauren during lunch, which she didn’t understand until they were all walking out of the room together. Bella was right behind her, just a foot from her slick, silver blonde hair, and she was evidently unaware of that.

“… don’t know why Bella” she sneered her name, “doesn’t just sit with the Cullens’ from now on or sit by herself when they’re not here.” Bella heard her muttering to Mike. Bella had never noticed what an unpleasant, nasal voice she had, and Bella was surprised by the malice in it. Bella didn’t know her well at all, ‘certainly not well enough for her to dislike me’, or so Bella had thought.

“She’s my friend; she sits with us,” Mike whispered back loyally, but also a bit territorially. Bella paused to let Jess and Angela pass her, Bella didn’t want to hear any more.

Bella got that the Cullens’ were still somewhat of a novelty, and we considered to be above the normal student populous, but the fact that Lauren wanted to banish Bella from the group because she was the only one the Cullens’ deemed likeable enough to actually converse with, hurt. It wasn’t Bella’s fault that Cullens’ realised how small minded Lauren (and to some extent, Jess) were, that they were ignored by the inhumanly beautiful family. Maybe it was because Bella wasn’t salivating after them, wanting them just for their looks and money. Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. Bella was just feeling strangely...protective of the Cullen siblings. 

Bella just put it down to the maternal instincts that she’d honed from years of taking care of Renee. She often thought of herself as the mother and Renee as the daughter in their relationship. Renee had never really stopped being a teenager while Bella was born middle aged and motherly. 

The next day went much the same as well, though Bella had to admit, her excitement for the evening grew as the day progressed. Lauren then tried to save face by saying that her daddy was taking her to Seattle, to Hermès and Prada to buy her dress for the spring formal and for prom. Bella had to fight to roll her eyes. Lauren just didn’t want to go dress shopping when Bella was there too. She thought it was completely ridiculous. Bella hadn’t done anything to Lauren, never said a mean word to her. But because she was jealous of Bella’s apparent friendship with the Cullens’, at least Edward, she decided to be super petty towards her. 

Whatever, Bella was going to have fun. Screw Lauren Mallory.


	19. Girl Time, Asshole Cameo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that has the cannon scene where Bella is confronted by the group of men who wish to do her harm. If you want to just skip this chapter, all good. I'll put a brief overview in the bottom chapter notes.

Jessica had just picked Bella up from her house after school. She’d already picked up Angela, so they were all ready to go to Port Angeles. 

They played whiney, girl rock as loud as possible through the car speakers and sung along at the top of their lungs. Bella could feel herself unwinding, surrounded just by her girlfriends, sharing in their positive energy. 

Jessica drove way too fast, so they made it to Port Angeles in great time. Jess, who had clearly been here many times, knew exactly where to go. There was only one major department store in Port Angeles, and Jessica took them straight to the formal dress section. It wasn’t particularly large, but she still pulled quite a few dresses to try on. 

Bella couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun, as Jess and Angela tried on dresses. The girls had found tiaras in the accessory section and were walking around the store wearing them as they tried on various different articles of clothing. Jess decided on a long pale blue dress, which hugged her curves but was still modest. Angela purchased a pretty pink dress in a rockabilly 50’s inspired dress that was tea length and poofed out. They all bought matching shoes and accessories. Put altogether, they looked stunning, Bella was really happy for them. But the girls didn’t let Bella get away with buying nothing. Jess and Angela even helped her buy new clothes to add to her wardrobe. They spent ages walking from department store to department store, they were laden down with bags. 

They walked back to Jessica’s car to put their bags away, but they were still too early for their dinner reservations. 

“Angela and I are going for a walk along the boardwalk, did you still want to go to the bookstore?” Jessica asked. 

Bella smiled. “Yeah, I need to pick up a couple of books. We’ll meet at the restaurant in an hour?” 

“Sure thing!” 

So, Jess and Angela headed one way and Bella headed another. 

The bookshop itself seemed normal, just a regular bookshop, but Bella could _feel_ the magic exuding from the building. She stepped through the door and felt the magic sink through her. It was a barrier spell, to keep out creatures and beings that wish to do harm. The proprietor of the shop smiled at her kindly.

“Good afternoon, sister. If you check the backroom, there may be more books to your liking.” 

Obviously, she recognised what Bella was, a fellow witch. “Thank you. I must compliment you on your wards. I wonder if there is a book on warding that you could recommend?”

The shop keeper’s face lit up with enthusiasm and led Bella into the backroom, which was also warded, to keep mortals from noticing it. 

By the time Bella was done in the bookshop, she had picked up a warding book, a household potions book and a regular cookbook for fish. It was still too early to go to the restaurant, so Bella decided to go for a walk. 

After walking for a little while, the sky getting steadily darker, Bella noticed that the foot traffic that she saw in the distance had dwindled to nothing. The buildings surrounding her had changed for boutiques to empty storefronts and warehouses. Bella felt a dark cloud above her, literally. She looked up to glare at the offending cloud that dared to block the sunlight from her when she noticed four men behind her. They were walking quietly, as if trying to make sure their footsteps went unnoticed. 

_Fuck._

Okay. 

Bella kept walking, pretended she didn’t notice them, followed the street. She had a fairly decent sense of direction and knew if she made the next turn, she would be heading back to the waterfront. 

Suddenly, as she made the turn, she spotted two more men. When she glanced behind her, the four men were now two. The two in front of her must have taken a side street to get ahead. They had boxed her in. 

Okay. Okay. No need to panic. She was a witch after all, right? Right. 

They began shouting and whooping to each other, the sound making Bella’s skin crawl. 

Bella kept her head down as she got closer and closer to the two men standing a few yards in front of her. 

“Hey sweetheart, you lost?” One of the men called, pushing away from the wall he was leaning against. He was heavy compared to the others and older than her, probably around 22 or 23, wearing dirty, greasy clothes. He was unshaven and was holding a beer can.

“Yeah, we can help you find your way back, for a price.” 

Ugh. Gross. 

She tried to sound confident. “S-stay away from me.” 

“Aw, do be like that, girly.” 

“Yeah, we just wanna have some fun.”

Bella felt the urge to turn invisible, but she doubted that would really help her in this instance. She tried to remember all the battle magic she had ever learned or read about. But she only ever remembered the defensive magic. 

Bella grinned, as she had the perfect spell. She held out her hand and whispered, “Tardus motus per tempus et spatium.*” The four men’s actions slowed to a crawl, she could see even the slightest twitch of movement, slowed down so they were moving a fraction at a time. 

Then, before Bella could react, screeching ip the road was a shiny Volvo. Wait. 

“Get in!” Came an angry, velvet voice. 

“Edward, what the hell?” 

“Get in the damn car, Bella!”

“Okay, okay!” But before she did, she turned to the very slow-moving man, the one who had called out to her first, and kicked him as hard as she could in the nuts. She briefly watched how the force of it recoiled through his body. _Then_ she hopped into Edward’s car. She quickly remembered Edward’s aversion(?) to her scent and hid it immediately. But she didn’t hide her heartbeat, because what was the actual point? He knew she was there, after all.

They drove for a little while in silence. 

“What did you do to those guys?” 

“I, uh, made them move in slow motion, so I could run away.” 

“And how did you do that?” 

“I sort of want to tell Carlisle first, if you don’t mind.”

“Fine.” 

They lapsed back into silence. 

“Bella, distract me, please.” 

“How?”

“Natter on about something unimportant. I need you to distract me so I don’t go back and kill those low-lives.”

“Uh, I bought a tiara just because Jessica and Angela talked me into it and I literally have nowhere to wear it ever. I might just wear it around the house when I wanna feel like a princess. But going tonight with the girls helped distract me from the ache in my chest whenever I think about how much I miss...uh, nevermind. Is this helping at all? I don’t really condone murder, but I think those guys were going to rape and murder me, so… um,” 

Edward laughed. “You’re quite funny Bella. I can see why Carlisle likes you.” 

Bella flushed. “He-he likes me?” She shook her head, flustered. “He’s only met me like, twice.” 

Edward shook. “Doesn’t matter. You left quite the lasting impression on him. A very good one. He hasn’t shut up about the meeting you two have tomorrow. He’s very excited for it.” 

Bella blushed bright red and her heart rate picked up. “Um, yeah, m-me too.” 

They fell silent again.

“Jessica and Angela are expecting me at the restaurant.” 

Edward sighed, and turned the car around, heading back into town. 

Moments later, Edward parked the car in a spot that should have been too small for the car with ease. Before Bella could even unbuckle her seatbelt, Edward was out of his seat and walking around the car to open Bella’s door. 

“Thank you.” Bella mumbled.

Edward bowed his head, in a way that denoted respect, with a depth of feeling that surprised Bella. “My pleasure, Bella.” 

“Bella! Where were you? We were so worried!” Angela exclaimed, the two girls exiting the restaurant. 

“Hey guys. I’m so sorry. I got all turned around and there were these creepy guys. I was lucky enough to run into Edward, he practically saved me.” 

Angela pulled Bella into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

“I think Bella should eat something.” Edward said, once Angela released Bella. 

“Oh, well, um. We’re sorry Bella, but we already ate. It was getting really late and we were hungry.” Angela admitted sheepishly. 

Bella smiled softly. “It’s okay, I could-” 

“Why don’t you let me take Bella to get something to eat and I’ll drive her home, so you don’t have to wait while she eats.” Edward interjected. 

Jessica looked between Bella and Edward, “Well, if that’s what you want?” Jessica asked, trying to ascertain if that’s what Bella wanted to do.

“Um, sure. If you don’t mind, Edward?” Bella asked, almost uncertainly. 

Edward smiled crookedly. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to.”

“Well, my car is just parked over here, if you wanna grab your shopping bags and put them in Edward’s car?” 

“Sure, that’s a great idea.” Bella replied with a smile.

After a quick shuffle around, Angela and Jessica were ready to go. 

“Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow Bella.” The girls called. 

Bella waved back, smiling at them. 

Edward offered Bella his arm. “Shall we?”

Bella laughed lightly. “We shall.” 

And the pair walked into the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slow movement through time and space
> 
> Girls evening out. Bella finally buys those clothes she's been wanting to for the last month or so. Also a tiara, cos why not?  
> Angela and Jessica found dresses. Beginning of a Lauren Mallory arch, maybe? 
> 
> Bookshop owned by a real witch, so Bella picks up some good books. 
> 
> Bella is confronted by assholes. She uses magic to make them go in slow-mo so she can run away, but Edward shows up and 'saves' her. 
> 
> They go back to the restaurant and meet up with Jess and Angela. They've already eaten, so they shuffle all of Bella's purchases into Edward's car and then Bella and Edward go to dinner. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this recap, if you just wanted to skip to the end. Be safe people, I don't want you to get trigger by anything I write <3


	20. A Dinner Date with the Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I can't wait for the next chapter! The anticipation is killing me, and I'm the fucking author! Finally, Bella and Carlisle will have a heart-to-heart.
> 
> In the meantime, here's Bella bonding with her future son.

Bella watched with wide eyes as Edward smoozed the hostess into giving them the most secluded booth in the entire restaurant. The hostess herself looked like she was going to swoon from Edward’s velvet tones and honeyed eyes. She stumbled here and there as she led them to the booth and stuttered when she told them their server would be right out. 

“You know, you shouldn’t dazzle people like that, Edward. She’s probably in the kitchen, hyperventilating.” 

Edward frowned. “I...dazzle people?” 

Bella scoffed. “Surely you’ve noticed? People don’t nearly get their way as easily as you do.” 

“Do I...dazzle you?” Edward asked, cautiously. 

Bella paused for a moment, thinking on his question. “Maybe in the beginning, when I first saw you, you would have had the ability to charm me like you do these mortals. But definitely not now.”

Edward tilted his head. “I wonder why that is?” 

Bella flushed, thinking about Dr Cullen, and how he managed to dazzle her just by simply being in her presence. She didn’t answer, and it spoke volumes. It made Edward smirk crookedly. 

Before he could say anything else, their server Amber, stepped out and over to them. Going by her expectant expression, clearly the hostess had dished in the kitchen. 

“Good evening,” she addressed Edward, practically ignoring Bella. It made Edward irritated at the lack of respect this Amber was showing Bella. “What can I get _you_ this evening.” 

Edward didn’t even look at her. “Bella?” He asked, making her scramble for the menu. 

“Uh, the mushroom ravioli, please.” Bella replied, clearly picking the first thing she saw. 

Amber wrote that down, but her focus was still on Edward. “And anything for you?”

“Two cokes, please.” He replied, asking Bella with his eyes if that was alright. Bella acquiesced. 

Amber smiled at Edward flirtatiously, still ignoring Bella. “Just let me know if I can get _you_ anything, sugar.” And she turned and left. 

Bella and Edward lapsed into silence. 

“Are you alright, Bella?” Edward asked softly. 

“I’m fine, Edward. Why do you keep asking me?” 

“Well, to be honest, I’m waiting for you to go into shock.” 

Bella laughed. “Don’t hold your breath,” But then she paused, looking at Edward amusedly. “Figure of speech. I supposed holding your breath won’t make much difference for you.”

Edward laughed lightly. “Yes, you’re right there.” 

“There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” 

“Ask.” 

Bella was about to respond, when Amber arrived with their drinks. With one long side glance at Edward, which he ignored, Amber left them alone again. 

“How did you know where to find me? No. That’s not exactly it. I know you can read minds, so I understand how you knew my exact location in that moment. But how did you know I was in Port Angeles and that I was being attacked? How did you know to come save me?”

Edward smiled. “Perceptive. You seem to know exactly what questions to ask. Fine, I knew to save you because Alice can see the future. She knew you were in danger the moment those men decided to attack you. She’s been watching over you, Alice that is. I was the only one free to save you. Carlisle would have come himself, but…”

“But?” 

“The mortals, as you call them, would have wondered why their head doctor rushed out of the hospital in the middle of his shift.” 

Bella blushed and looked down at her untouched coke. “Why would Dr Cullen care so much about me to come save me, anyway?” 

Edward smiled indulgently at her. “I think you know why.”  
  
  


Bella pondered that before she spoke. “My chest, it hurts when I’m not near him. It’s like, he hung the moon and the stars, and I can only watch him from afar. Some days are better than others. It feels like there is a part of me missing, and I only feel completely whole when he is near. It sounds ridiculous, I know. I mean, I’m just a silly seventeen-year-old girl. Who am I next to someone like him?”

“You really don’t see yourself clearly, do you? You aren’t some plain, wallflower Bella.”

“Please, I’m not anything special. Not compared to you.” To _him_.

“You might say that, but you didn’t hear the thoughts of every male your first day of school.” 

Holy _shit_. “I don’t believe it.”

“You should. Because it’s true. You’re not plain Bella, far from it.” 

Bella blushed bright red. Maybe Carlisle could be attracted to her, like she was attracted to him. Bella trusted Edward’s opinion after all.

“Now, I’m going to ask you questions and I want you to tell me if you can answer them or if you want to wait for your meeting with Carlisle. Does that sound agreeable to you?”

Bella nodded her assent. “I’ll try to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you for being so understanding, that I might not be able answer all of them."

"How did you figure out that I can read minds?" 

"I can only give you a half-answer." Bella prefaced, and waited for Edward to nod his approval. "I felt your mind touch mine. I can't tell you how I felt it though."

He nodded. "I understand. I assume, in that same vein, the barrier that you created during the incident with Tyler Crowley is another thing I can't ask you about?" 

"Correct."

"Alright, one mushroom ravioli." Bella jumped as Amber put the plate on the table. Bella had been so absorbed by the tense little bubble that she and Edward were encompassed in, she had totally forgotten that food was coming. Amber turned to Edward. "Are you _sure_ I can't get you anything?" 

"I'm fine, thank you." 

Looking slightly disgruntled, Amber walked away, letting the pair return to their conversation.

“Why aren’t you going into shock over what occurred?” 

Bella sighed, popping a boiling ravioli into her mouth, putting off her answer. “I’ve experienced worse in my nightmares.” She said finally. 

“Do you have nightmares often?”

“The only time I haven’t had one of late, was after I saw Carlisle at the hospital.” 

“Yes, he mentioned seeing you at the hospital. Said you refused medical help for these nightmares.” 

Bella nodded. “I had to see why I was having them first, before just trying to drown them out with medication.” 

“And did you find out why you were having them?”

“Sort of. Sue Clearwater helped me figure out most of the truth. 

“Sue Clearwater, from the reservation?”

“Yes. She’s a Medicine Woman, you see. She’s offered to take me under her wing, so to speak. Since my own mother is so far away.” 

“That’s very kind of her. How did she help you?”

“I can’t answer that.” 

“I see. Well, I think that’s all the questions I’m prepared to ask. You eat your dinner, before it gets cold.” 

Bella obeyed and put another ravioli in her mouth. Slowly, but surely, she ate more of her dinner, much to Edward’s satisfaction. 

“Your nightmares don’t explain why you aren’t going into shock, your nightmares aren’t real, what just happened to you, is.” Edward said suddenly. 

“I thought you weren’t going to ask me more questions,” Bella quipped. “And my nightmares are real. But I can’t say more than that. Please. These are things I want to tell Carlisle myself. I want to tell him first. I’ve already told two people that aren’t him the truth. I don’t want that to become three.” 

Edward nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to push you. The thought just suddenly occurred to me, is all.” 

Bella smiled, having already forgiven him. That in itself surprised Bella. Normally, she held a grudge a bit longer than that. But she felt strangely maternal about Edward, despite him most likely being much much older than Bella herself. Actually, Bella felt herself slowly growing in maternal feelings for all the Cullen children, despite never really meeting any of them, aside from Edward. “It’s alright, I couldn’t exactly stay mad at you because you are curious. That would be very hypocritical of me.” 

“Do you have any more questions for me, since you’ve been so kind as to answer mine?” 

“Yeah, why are your eyes gold? I thought vampires had red eyes, that transitioned from black to red, not black to gold.” 

“You really are quite perceptive, though I suppose you will eventually tell me how you even know about the red eyes. My family, we like to call ourselves ‘vegetarians’, because we only feed off animals. That’s why my eyes are gold, why all our eyes are gold. Red eyes are a sign of human drinkers.”

Bella couldn’t help the relief that shot through her at that. Deep down, she knew she would still want to be with Carlisle, even if he did drink human blood. Bella wasn’t sure what that said about her character, but she was relieved that she didn’t have to think about the consequences of that. They didn’t kill humans. 

“I see. Well, that’s good to know.”

Edward smirked at her, thinking that she was uneasy about blood drinking, not because she was evaluating her own moral character. “Carlisle has never tasted human blood, never killed a human that wasn’t already on the brink of death. He’s the purest of us all. And the oldest of us.”

Bella tilted her head. “How old are you?” 

“Seventeen.” He replied automatically. 

“How long have you been seventeen?” 

“A while,” He replied. Seeing Bella’s unamused look, he sighed. “I’m 104.” 

Bella blinked. "Well, I hope I look as good as you do when I turn 104."

Edward laughed. "If I get my way, you will probably look even better."

Bella's blood ran cold. "If you... get your way?" 

"Well, if this thing between you and Carlisle goes anywhere… I can't stand seeing him alone, not when the rest of us are all paired up. He's the single man out. He's been alone 342 years, Bella. I can't stand to see him alone any longer."

Bella's eyes were wide. "So what you're saying is, that you want me to become like you? To become a vampire?" 

"I know it is selfish of me, especially since you've barely spent any time with Carlisle, to offer you forever with him. You do have a choice, of course. None of us would force you and I don't want you to feel obligated. But… I want Carlisle to be happy."

As much as immortality frightened her, Bella couldn't help but feel her heart swell listening to Edward talk about Carlisle, showing her how much he loved his 'father'. She rested her hand on Edward's, making him freeze. "Thank you for being so honest with me when I couldn't be completely honest with you. But I will say this, depending on how this meeting with Carlisle goes tomorrow, I will consider what you have told me tonight. I promise."

Edward looked relieved. "Thank you, Bella. I was worried I had scared you off."

Bella shook her head. "It will take much much more than that to scare me off."

Edward smiled. "I'm beginning to see that, yes."

They were silent for a few more minutes when a thought occurred to Bella. "Wait, you're all paired up? You're not single?" 

Edward laughed heartily. "As far as the humans know, yes I'm single. But to tell the truth, Esme is my mate. I may be visibly 17, but I'm actually not much younger than Esme. She was born in 1895. She's only six years older than me. But I was turned at 17 and she was turned at 26. Carlisle was turned at 23, by the way. We're all quite young looking, which is why she poses as Carlisle's older sister, when she's really his oldest daughter."

Bella's eyes were wide. "So, in the eyes of modern society, you can't be together, because she looks like she's older than you. Oh, Edward, that sucks. Hey, at least she isn't pretending to be Carlisle's wife. Somehow, I think that would be worse."

Edward’s eyes took on a strange gleam. “I think that would be more scandal than this town could handle. The adoptive son, running off with the wife. No, it was because of that, in case it somehow got out that Esme and I were together, it would be less scandalous if she wasn’t also ‘married’ to Carlisle. Vampires are quite territorial about our mates. As much as I love Carlisle, it would have driven me mad, seeing them parade around as some sort of loving couple.” 

Amber came over then. “Is there anything I can get for you?” She asked, staring unabashedly at Edward. 

“Just the cheque, please.” He said, finally looking at her, for the first time that entire night. Bella watched as blood rushed to Amber’s face, and she wondered if that’s what she looked like whenever Carlisle looked at her. 

“O-okay.” She stuttered, pulling out a small leather folder. 

Edward pulled out an $100 bill. “Keep the change,” He said with his signature crooked smile.

Amber stumbled back to the kitchen. 

Bella smiled; amusement clear on her face. “Oh, you should have taken pity on the poor girl, and just kept ignoring her. She looked like she was going to pass out.” 

Edward laughed again, and while a very pleasant sound, didn’t dazzle her like it would have Amber. “It probably would have happened if I’d looked at her or not. I can’t help being this gorgeous.” 

Bella snorted. “Modest too.” 

He grinned, slightly too wolfishly, but it didn’t frighten Bella like it probably should have. “I try.”


	21. A Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've blue-balls'ed you. I promise though, next chapter is when Bella and Carlisle finally talk. I sort of forgot there had to be a transition chapter between being in Port Angeles and talking to Carlisle. And the next chapter should be posted in the next couple of hours.

The anticipation that Bella was feeling was incredible. In a few moments, Edward would be taking her back to his home for her meeting with Carlisle. The way he smiled at her with amusement, Bella wondered if he didn’t already somehow know about the strange connection she felt to the elder vampire. Could Carlisle have already discussed it with him? Edward was picking Bella up for school that day in preparation for her meeting with Carlisle that afternoon. She tried not to show how keyed up she was in front of Charlie, so he wouldn’t suspect anything. Bella had already told him of her ‘study group’ with Edward and Alice Cullen, and he had already approved it. Bella felt bad lying to him about it, but this wasn’t something Charlie could know yet, if ever. Charlie still didn’t know she was a witch, let alone the feelings his seventeen-year-old daughter was developing on an apparently thirty-year-old man. Charlie would be reaching for his shotgun, if he’d known. So, one more secret she was going to keep from her father. 

Bella wondered how long all the praises he sung about Carlisle would last if he knew. Every couple of days, Charlie was saying all the good things the Cullens’ did for Forks, all the philanthropy that the Cullens’ displayed. Donating food to homeless shelters, money to worthy causes, Esme donating her time to community projects. How polite all the kids were, how studious and successful they were in their schooling. They were a perfect family. Bella wondered, if she and Carlisle did end up...together, how would she fit? When they eventually left Forks and settled down somewhere else, would she become Carlisle’s beautiful younger wife? The sterile wife of a doctor who adopted too many children? That thought made her blush brightly. She was almost embarrassed by how nice that future sounded, how much she wanted it. Bella had never considered herself the motherly type, so she was surprised by how much she wanted the life Carlisle represented, the life Edward had offered. She hoped all the ‘kids’ would like her, would approve of her, approve of her relationship with their ‘father’. 

When he arrived, Edward took one look at her anxious face, and snorted. “Calm down, Bella. It’s going to be okay. I talked with my siblings. Rosalie is still a little bit hesitant about you, but Alice desperately wants to meet you and Jasper wants whatever Alice wants, so the three of us are going to sit with you at lunch. Emmett is very excited to meet you too, but he’s going to stick with Rosalie, as she is his mate.” 

Bella froze. “Um, does-does Rosalie not like me?” 

Edward sighed. “It’s not that she doesn’t like you personally. It’s just… she has her reasons. It’s not my story to tell. She’ll warm up to you eventually, Alice has seen it. You just have to give her time.” 

Bella nodded, she had learned to trust what Edward had to say. With how close Bella had become with Edward, she felt he had slowly risen into her top three friends. That was more friends than she ever had in her life. 

“So, what am I going to tell Jessica in Trig today? She’s going to be hounding me for juicy goss.” Bella said, once they were off to school, already dreading the prospect.

Edward chuckled. “Good thing Esme isn’t as territorial of a mate as me, because I was going to suggest that you and I pretend that we’re dating.”

“What?” Bella exclaimed. 

“Well, think about it. It’ll give you an excuse to come around more and visit Carlisle. And, girls at school will leave me alone if they don’t think I’m single. It’s a win-win.” 

“I want to say ‘let’s see what your father thinks first’, but we don’t really have that kind of time, when Jessica is going to be interrogating me in an hour.”

“Come on, it’s a great plan.” 

“You said Esme isn’t territorial, but what about Carlisle? If he and I are… mates, how do you think he’ll feel about this?” 

Edward smiled indulgently. “Look at you, already acting as co-leader of a coven, trying to protect your mate.”

Bella blushed. “Shut up.” 

“Soon, we’re all gonna start calling you ‘mom’. Emmett is already calling you ‘mama’ in his head.” 

Bella shoved Edward lightly. “Stop it.”

“Nah, it’s the eldest sons’ job to annoy their mothers.” 

Bella blushed again. She couldn’t believe that they were so ready to accept her. “Does Carlisle know that his children are conspiring to get a new step-mom?”

Edward laughed heartily. “Of course! He keeps telling us to stop, to let it progress naturally. But you know how kids get impatient.” 

“I can’t believe this.” 

“Believe it, mom. Now, are we going with my plan or not?” 

Bella groaned. “Okay, fine. But it’s still weird.”

“Well, when she asks you about how you feel about me, pretend you’re talking about Carlisle, and it should be less weird. Just try to not accidentally say his name instead of mine. You should be golden, considering you’re a pretty good liar.”

“Wow, I’m not sure that’s a compliment or not.”

“In this case, definitely yes.” 

Bella sighed, but acquiesced to Edward’s plan. “I just hope this doesn’t blow up in our faces.” 

“It won’t. We’re all used to playing the part. Carlisle is renowned in his abilities of self-control, everything will be fine. We’re all making ourselves fairly scarce this afternoon, so you and Carlisle can have a proper talk.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. A lot of the stuff I have to talk about with Carlisle, you and your siblings deserve to know as well. When we start talking about the relationship stuff, then maybe you could tune out.” Bella said. She wanted to be open with the Cullen kids, they deserved her honesty, especially when she knew their big secret. 

“As you wish.” Edward replied. 

Before she knew it, they had arrived at Forks High school. Edward, of course, was opening her door for her. “I get that you’re from another time, chivalry and all that, but why are you always opening doors for me and offering me your arm? Things like that?”

Edward shrugged. “It’s a respect thing. You’re Carlisle’s mate, you will be co-leader of the coven. You deserve the respect that entails, even if you’re still human right now.” 

Bella’s eyes widened. “Oh.” 

Edward smirked, pulling her arm into his. “Now, let’s shock the general population.” 

He escorted Bella to her first class, everyone staring at them as they went. “Gods, this is almost as bad as my first day.” 

“Don’t worry, it’s mostly me they’re staring at. The hottest single guy in the school, dating the newest hot girl. It’s also because I have  _ never _ dated anyone before. Not from amongst the school populous.” 

“Lucky me.” Bella snarked. 

“Well, see you at lunch time.” Edward said once they’d arrived at English. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek, before turning away.

The staring didn’t stop after Edward left, so clearly he was full of bullshit. It wasn’t just him that they were staring at. Though, Bella was thankful that he had attempted to make her feel better, even if it was clear he was lying his ass off. 

When Trig rolled around, Jessica was staring at her expectantly from her seat beside her. “What is this I hear about Edward Cullen driving you to school? Are you two dating?”

Gods, she sounded like Bella’s mother. “Yeah, Edward gave me a lift, because I’m studying with him and Alice at their place after school.”

Jessica’s eyes were wide as saucers. “You’re going over to their  _ house _ !” She exclaimed. 

Bella nodded, confused as to why that was weird. “Yeah? Why?”

“ _ No one _ has been to the Cullen mansion.”

“Mansion? Is it really a mansion?” 

“Uh, yeah! There were pictures of the exterior all over city hall after Dr and Ms Cullen fixed it up. The place is massive.” 

“Oh, I had no idea.” 

“Of course you didn’t. This is a big deal, Bella! How long have you two been dating? Did you ask him to meet you last night?” 

“No, I literally ran into him when I got lost. But yeah, we’re dating. We sort of made it official when he dropped me home. But we’re taking it slow.” 

Jessica screamed non-verbally, as class had begun. “Oh my god. Edward Cullen. The ice prince himself. So, do you like him?”

Bella took a deep breath and imagined Carlisle’s face, how he made her feel. “Yeah.” 

“Like, really really like him?” 

Bella blushed faintly. “Yeah.” 

“Have you kissed?” 

Bella’s face went bright tomato red. “No, Jess! We’re definitely not at that stage, yet.” 

Jessica’s face saddened briefly, before she perked. “Do you think tonight…?”

“Uh, probably not. All his family will be there, and I don’t think he’s big on PDA.” 

They fell silent for a moment. “I don’t know how you can stand to be near him.”

“Why?”

“Well, he’s so intimidating. I wouldn’t know what to say.” 

Bella remembered when she was in the hospital, how Carlisle had practically caressed her cheek. “I have some trouble with incoherency when I’m around him, sometimes.”

“Well, he  _ is _ unbelievably gorgeous.” 

“There’s more to him than that. He’s not just a pretty face.” 

Jessica grinned with interest. “Oh really? And what would that be?”   
  


Bella cursed herself, wishing she’d just let it go. “He’s so kind, and generous. And he makes me laugh and feel safe. And he’s so smart. He’s unbelievable, behind the face.” 

“He must be, as he’s always at the top of the class.” 

That statement jarred Bella back to reality, that she was supposed to be talking about Edward, not Carlisle. “Yeah, he wants to help me improve my grades as well, hence the study session this afternoon.” Ignoring the fact that almost all of Bella’s classes in Arizona had been AP. 

Spanish continued with Jessica trying to fish for information. Bella tried to deflect, asking how she and Mike were getting on. Jessica happily talked about Mike, but she wasn’t completely swayed. 

Bella was counting the minutes until the end of the period, so she could escape from the incessant questioning. 

Finally, after her jaw began to cramp up from her clenching, the bell rang and Bella practically launched from her desk and out the door. She made a beeline for the cafeteria. She almost sighed in relief when she saw Edward, Alice and Jasper sitting separately from Rosalie and Emmett. She hurried through the lunchline, only grabbing an apple and a water bottle before heading over to the trio.

As Bella approached, Alice looked like she was practically vibrating in her seat with barely contained excitement. Jasper was looking at her affectionately. Edward was laughing softly at Alice, who must have heard something funny from one of their thoughts. 

“Hello Bella,” Alice cried, her face seeming to split from her wide smile, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you.” 

“Likewise,” Bella said, pulling out her chair and sitting as gracefully as she could. 

Jasper’s smile was slightly strained. “Good afternoon, Bella.” 

Bella smiled genuinely back. “Good afternoon, Jasper.” 

Edward rolled his eyes. “So formal, as if you can’t feel her emotions, or haven’t seen her future.” 

“It’s called manners, boy.” Jasper snapped half-heartedly. 

Bella chuckled. “Now boys, play nicely.”

“Yes mom.” They chorused, making Bella blush. 

“Stop teasing Bella. She hasn’t agreed to be our mother yet,” Then Alice turned her big doe eyes on Bella, the adorableness of it taking her aback. “As much as we would really like her to.”

Bella felt anxiety rise up inside her at the prospect of suddenly being mother to six vampires who were each more than five or more times her age. Suddenly, waves of calm overtook her and she felt less overwhelmed. Bella looked at Jasper. “Is that you?” 

Jasper nodded. “Yes, you felt a little overwhelmed.”

“Thank you,” Bella said, who then turned to a sheepish looking Alice. “I know you mean well. I think suddenly being the mother of six vampires who are much much older than I, it’s a lot to take in. And I barely know any of you. How do you know I’m good enough?” 

All three vampires’ softened at that. Alice was the one who spoke, “Bella, if you weren’t perfect, then you wouldn’t be Carlisle’s mate. Simple as that.” 

Bella blushed. “I’ve barely spoken to him either. I don’t even know if what I’m feeling is real. How can it be? We’ve only met twice. I feel a little ridiculous, love at first sight isn’t real. If this is even love.” 

The three of them shared a look. “Bella, this isn’t love. Not in the way you’re thinking. This is  _ more _ than love. This is a connection of souls, of beings. Most of the time, it is romantic, but rarely it can be platonic. You and Carlisle haven’t fully mated, haven’t consolidated the Bond that has formed between the two of you. Right now, since it’s not a platonic Bond, you’re feeling a strong desire to be with Carlisle. And your chest aches when you aren’t with him, or are thinking of being with someone else. You and Carlisle were literally made for each other.”

“Are you talking about  _ soulmates _ ?” Bella gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. 

“Basically,” Alice said, kindly. “But this isn’t some human idea of soulmates. With vampires, once the Bond is uh, consummated, it is unbreakable. You can sense each other’s feelings, thoughts. You never look at another being ever again. More permanent than marriage, this Bond is eternal. And if one of you dies, well. It is like a part of you dies. It is intense and light-hearted at the same time. And it is unquestionable.” 

Bella blinked. “That is … a lot.” 

Alice grasped Jasper’s hand. “We’ve been luckier than most. We found our mates relatively early in our lives. But Carlisle...Carlisle has been waiting for you for a long time.” 

Bella nodded. “Yes, Edward mentioned last night. You’ve given me much to consider.” 

“Of course, Carlisle can answer any question that you have. He’s been wanting to talk with you for a long time, but he didn’t want you to feel obligated. He wanted it to grow naturally, but he misses you. So we’ve sort of pushed it.” Edward said, lightly. 

Soon the bell was ringing, signalling the end of lunch time. Bella went to Biology in a daze, Edward gingerly guiding her there, as she processed what had been said. Edward even convinced Bella to ditch gym, and head to his house earlier, as he thought her daze made her a danger to herself, without adding flying balls to the mix. 

“Don’t worry. Carlisle won’t be home yet. It will just be Esme, so you can relax until he does get home. The others aren’t going to come onto the house until you want us to.” 

Bella nodded. As Edward turned up a concealed road, which turned out to be a driveway. It led all the way up to the house. And what a house! Bella’s jaw dropped.


	22. Dr Sexy in Da HOUSE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omg, finally! They have finally had that oh so important conversation! You know what the sexiest part of a healthy relationship is? Communication. Especially when your partner has the voice of silk and smells INTOXICATING.

As they stepped out of the car, Esme rushed out of the house to greet them. Despite supposedly being changed at 26 years old, she didn’t look much older than Carlisle. They could have been assumed to be the same age if it wasn’t specified that one was physically older than the other. Esme had a warm, caring smile, dimples tucked into her cheeks. 

“Hello, you must be Bella. How wonderful to finally meet you. My Edward has told me so much about you.” She said, pulling Bella into a light hug. 

“All good things, I hope,” Bella said, smiling hesitantly at the two vampires. “And it’s wonderful to meet you as well. I hope you’re okay with Edward and I fake dating, for the sake of socialisation.”

“Of course not, sweetie. Edward and I have always posed as either brother and sister or mother and son, to keep scrutiny off us. It’s all part of the life of a vampire, so conceal ourselves.” Esme said warmly. “Now, come in out of the cold. Carlisle should be home in half an hour. I’ll take you up to his office to wait, after a tour. Can I get you anything, a snack, something to drink?” 

“Oh, a glass of water would be lovely, please.” 

“Of course. Edward, why don’t you give Bella a tour and I’ll bring that glass of water up to the study when you’re ready. Just give me a shout.”

“Sure thing.” Edward replied. He held his hand out, and gestured toward the house. “After you, my dear.” 

“Your house is really beautiful. Such big windows. The views must be amazing.” Bella said, smiling warmly as they walked up the front steps. 

“Oh, thank you dear. Alice and I designed the house. It had been quite a few years since we’d lived here, so it was quite run-down. I do quite like this modern style.” Esme replied. 

“This is the one place we don’t have to hide what we are,” Edward said, tangling his hand with Esme’s. “A safe haven.”

Once they made it inside, Esme split off to go to the kitchen, while Edward took Bella on a small tour of the magnificent house, which ended with Carlisle’s study. The study itself was large, almost like a library. Her eyes gleamed, taking in the veritable hoard of literature. 

Moments later, the door opened behind them, causing Bella to turn. There he was, Carlisle Cullen, leader of the Olympic Clan, father to six. He was wearing a pale blue button up shirt. He had clearly taken off the tie, and the top two buttons were undone, revealing white silky skin. His sleeves were also rolled up to his elbows, showing of muscled forearms of smooth white skin.  _ Fuck _ . Bella felt her legs shake from the sight of him.

“Ah, I see you’ve given Bella the tour,” He said, his musical tones almost hypnotic to her, affecting her like none of the other vampires could. His gaze was gentle, loving as he appraised Bella with his golden eyes. 

Edward looked between the pair of them and smirked. “I’ll leave you two to talk.” 

Once Edward left the room, closing the door behind him, Carlisle turned back to Bella, as if he had never wanted to look away from her in the first place. “Hello, Bella.” He said tenderly. 

“Hello, Carlisle.” Bella replied, her cheeks heating slightly. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Bella didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t comprehend anything other than his eyes and how her chest felt so full. She felt her eyes well up from the emotion of it. Bella had never felt this way before, about anyone. Just as the first tear fell, Carlisle had her wrapped up in his arms. 

“Oh Bella, my Bella. I’m so sorry. This must be so difficult.”

Bella felt mortified, that she was finally with Carlisle, and she was crying. The enormity of the situation had overwhelmed her. But now she was in his arms, and she felt herself calming down. “Why are y-you sorry. I-I’m the one that’s c-crying.”

“I should have explained things to you sooner, not let it build up like this.” 

Bella, unwillingly, pulled away from Carlisle. “What do you mean?” 

“Because of the initiation, but negligence, of our Bond, when we finally met again, all that emotion that you feel, exploded out of you. This isn’t your fault at all. I kept away from you because I didn’t want you to feel pressured into anything. But with staying away from you, I may have just made things worse.” 

“No, please don’t blame yourself. It means a lot to me, that you would give me room to make my own choices.” But Bella still didn’t let go of him, something inside her demanded that she cling and never let go. Gods, his arms felt so strong and protective around her. And he smelt intoxicating, like the most amazing thing she had ever smelt. Leather, mixed spice, old paper, chocolate. “Why can’t I let go of you? I feel like this hug is extending longer than socially appropriate.” 

Carlisle chuckled lightly. “It’s because we’ve only talked twice, now three times since the connection was made. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t want to let go either.” 

Bella breathed deeply, taking in Carlisle’s scent, bathing in his presence. “I came here to talk to you, explain things, but now that I’m here, all I want…” She cut off, her face flushing. 

Carlisle stroked her cheek. “I completely agree. But we should actually talk. There will be plenty of time for just...this.” 

“Can I keep holding you, though. I feel like I am going to need that comfort, trying to explain everything.” 

“Of course, mia cara.” Carlisle said, looking at her adoringly. He led her over to the couch, where they sat, curled up into each other.

Bella took a deep breath. “Well, I guess the first thing to tell you is that, well. I’m a witch.” 

Carlisle frowned. “Like, a Wiccan?” 

Bella shook her head. “No, I mean, broomstick flying, magic spell weaving, potion making witch. Please, let me prove it to you.” Bella held her hand out and focused on making it invisible. A few moments later, the translucency began, starting in the tips of her fingers and travelling down to her elbow. Soon, her whole arm was invisible. Carlisle gasped.

“Dear lord,” He whispered. 

“I can turn completely invisible, if I want to. I’m already blocking my scent, so Edward can’t smell it. I know it affects him.” She released the magic, and her arm became visible again.

“And the barrier that you created to stop Mr Crowley’s van?” 

“Yes. That was my magic. It acted on instinct though.” 

“Were you serious? About the broomstick riding?” 

“Yes, honestly.” 

“So, how did you know we were vampires?” 

“I have a grimoire. It is passed down through the generations. It is filled with spells, potions and occult information. Including vampires. You see, my grandmother was a witch.” 

“And your mother?” 

“She...was. That’s sort of part of a longer story.” 

“We’ve got time.” 

“Well, I don’t know the full story. All I know is that for some reason, when I was four years old, I was dying. Nonna did some sort of spell, to save me, at the cost of my mother having to give up her magic. I haven’t called Renee to ask her about this yet. I just don’t know how to bring it up. There are a lot of side effects that happen to a witch when she gives up her magic. It would explain a lot, about how she changed. It’s like she regressed into a teenager. I never knew Renee was a witch. She and Nonna always told me that it just skipped a generation. Not that she gave it up to save me.” 

“You were dying?” 

“Apparently. This sort of ties into my nightmares.” 

Bella explained to him the nightmares she was having, and how she’d gone to Sue Clearwater to find a way to figure out why she was having the nightmares. 

“I think someone on the Council cursed me somehow, using my own magic to power it. They had wanted me to die, but Nonna had seen some sort of ‘glorious future’ for me, and that the Council was afraid of it. I don’t know how to break the curse, all I know is that day, after seeing you in the hospital, I didn’t have nightmares that night. I think it had something to do with you. I think this Bond, being with you, protected me from it.” 

Carlisle hugged her tightly. “I would stay with you every night, if it meant you would stop having nightmares.”

“Thank you, Carlisle.” Bella said, her heart fluttering. 

“So, have you always had these nightmares?” 

“I know I had them when I was very young, but Nonna did some sort of spell and managed to keep them away for nine years. But, since I’m reaching majority, my magic is becoming too powerful and undoing the spell she placed to protect me. I think she also did a memory spell on me, because I didn’t remember any of this before I went and saw Sue Clearwater.” 

“I see. Are there any witches you can go to, to help with this?”

Bella shook her head. “No, I can’t trust other witches. Not after learning that one of the Council did this to me.” 

“Fair enough, mia cara.” Carlisle replied, carding his fingers gently through her hair. Gods, his cool touch felt so good, she wanted to purr like a cat. 

“So, yeah. I’m a witch and I’ve been cursed with horrific nightmares.” 

“And you have a vampire for a mate.” Carlisle added. 

Bella laughed softly. “Well, I’m not mad about that part.” 

“I think that’s the next thing we should talk about, our relationship.” 

“I think so too,” Bella said. She took a deep breath. “Edward said being your mate makes me co-leader of the coven. He also said that would effectively make me their...their mother. Apparently, Emmett already calls me ‘mama’ in his head. And Alice, Jasper and Edward all called me ‘mom’ today at school. It’s a lot to take in, especially since I don’t really know anything about you. About your family.” 

“I understand what you mean, about going from being a normal human, well witch, to being the mother of six vampires.”

“I’m just worried that...that I won’t be good enough. What do I know about being a mother, especially to vampires that have decades of experience on me. Who am I to try and mother them. Who am I to be...to be your mate, your equal?”

“Oh, Bella. I loved you the moment I set eyes on you. And now I love you even more. You care so much, about being good enough. It shows how loving and caring you are. But don’t worry about trying to fit in just yet. We should probably get to know each other better first. We have time before you even have to think about that sort of thing. Right now, you should only be focusing on us, and being together. Finally. I have waited for you for so long, Bella. And now that we are together, I cannot ever let you go.”

Bella’s heart fluttered at his words. “How are you even real?” 

Carlisle smirked. “Trust me, this is very real.” His voice purred.

“It feels more like a dream, a really wonderful,  _ hot _ dream.” Bella said, practically feeling the swoon coming on. Gods, she wanted him so badly. Her eyes flicked down from his to his perfect lips. Oh gods, his lips were right there. 

Bella cleared her throat, and leaned away from him slightly. “I, uh...this is moving too fast. You have no idea how much I want...how much I want to kiss you, touch you…” 

Carlisle leaned away from her too, as if he too had been feeling the same tension, the same intense desire she felt. Gods, she was almost overwhelmed with pure lust. “Yes, I agree. Too fast. We’re not even ready for anything like that. It’s just the Bond, since we were so far apart for so long. The instinctual desire to…” His voice had dropped an octave, deep and seductive. Clearly he was affected by this as she was. They pulled away from each other somewhat, as an attempt to control themselves. 

“This weekend is the spring dance. The family is going to go on a hiking trip, and I was wondering if you would like to come with us? The weather is going to be pleasant, so we have to stay out of the public eye. It will be a good bonding experience, for you and the kids.”

Bella smiled brightly. “I can bring my broomstick! Less twisted ankles that way. I would love to come.” 

Carlisle grinned, his exquisitely beautiful face lighting up, oh god, oh  _ fuck _ . “Excellent. I’m sure this is going to be wonderful. I know the children are very excited to get out and go.” 

Bella smiled weakly at him. He made her feel weak, gods. “I think I should go downstairs and try and do some studying with Edward and Alice before I give in to my baser instincts.” 

Carlisle huffed a laugh. “That might be a good idea, you are awfully tempting, but, I have one more thing to add.”

“Sure.”

“The more time we spend together, the stronger the bond will become, and the less likely it will be to fade. Once we start down this path, there will be no going back. If we eventually...consummate the Bond, we will essentially be married in the eyes of Fae law. So, you need to be sure you want to be with me, forever.” 

Bella clasped her hands around his. “Carlisle, from the moment I met your eyes when we first saw each other, I was lost. Lost to anyone else who would seek me to be theirs. Because, in that moment, while I belong to no one but myself, everyone else lost the right to share their lives with me. Only you have the right to be by my side. No one else.”

“Good lord,” Carlisle whispered. He pulled Bella’s hands to his face and kissed her knuckles with his soft, cool lips. God, she wished he was kissing her lips. “I take it that means you want to be with me? You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Bella murmured. “I’m sure.”

“Thank God.” He whispered, kissing her hands again.

There was a large squeal from the doorway, making Bella jump, pulling away from Carlisle. 

Alice rushed in and pulled Bella into a tight hug. “Yay! We finally have a mother!” 


	23. Meet the Family

The surprise of Alice pulling her away from Carlisle felt like a sharp slap to the face, despite Alice’s well-meaning intentions. Bella didn’t want to be pulled away from Carlisle, but she tamped down the irrational anger, and hugged Alice back, not wanting to insult her. The sudden change, while slightly irritating, still made Bella smile because she was wanted. Alice wanted her, wanted her to be a part of the family, and that in itself soothed away any annoyance at being pulled away from Carlisle. Carlisle himself, was smiling warmly at the pair as they embraced. 

“Don’t overwhelm her, Alice. Bella and I still have much to talk about. We are still almost strangers to each other, despite the Bond.”

Alice pulled away from Bella and smiled at Carlisle. “Of course, I just wanted Bella to know how excited we all are for her to become a part of this family.” 

Bella smiled at her, hoping it conveyed her depth of feeling. “Thank you Alice. You have no idea how much that means to me. That you have accepted me, unconditionally.” 

Alice’s eyes filled, looking watery, and pulled Bella into another hug. “I know you’ve had a really rough go of it, you grew up too fast and that you’ve never found your place. But you’ve found it now, you’ve found us.” 

“Now, why don’t you come downstairs and get properly introduced to the family?” Carlisle asked, placing his hand gently on Bella’s hip.

Bella turned and smiled nervously. “Alright.”

“It’s okay, Bella,” Alice said, grasping Bella’s free hand. “We already love you.” 

Bella noticed more things as she walked down the stairs, things that she hadn’t noticed on the way up, because of her overwhelming anxiety about seeing Carlisle. First, there was the collection of graduation caps, that amused Bella to no end. Then there was the cross that belonged to Carlisle's father. 

She reached her hand out, not quite touching it, and closed her eyes. Bella cast a spell of protection on it, so it would stay in its current condition for the next ten years or so. Just a little bit of added protection, the least she could do for Carlisle. The cross itself gave off a dark aura, but Bella resolved to ask about it later, when she wasn't about to meet the rest of the family.

Esme, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were waiting for them in the living room when the three of them made it down downstairs. Bella had to fight the urge freeze when all their eyes landed on her. With Carlisle’s arm around her waist, Bella found the strength to keep her head held high, and not shrink before their scrutiny. 

“Hello, everyone.” Bella said, trying with all her might to keep the nerves out of her voice.

“Hey! Mama’s here!” Emmett exclaimed, jumping to his feet, making Rosalie roll her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for ages!” He looked like he wanted to hug her, but seeing Carlisle’s arm wrapped protectively around her, he thought better of it. 

“Hello, Bella.” Rosalie said frostily, looking down her nose at Bella, barely withholding a sneer. 

Bella flushed. “It’s nice to meet you, all of you, officially.”

Rosalie immediately looked away and back to the fashion magazine she had been reading, clearly given Bella all the time she was going to. Bella didn’t blame her. She didn’t know how old Rosalie was, but if the roles were reversed, Bella wasn’t sure she would be welcoming either (Of course, Bella definitely would have been welcoming, but that was the difference between Bella and Rosalie), but she still smiled warmly in the blonde girl’s direction. But, faced with the group of vampires, Bella didn’t know what to say. 

“So Bella, you’re a witch? Like, voodoo shit?” Emmett asked bluntly.

Bella burst out laughing. “Oh, no. No voodoo, my magic is more European based than African.”

Carlisle’s eyes lit up. “Is there a difference between Eurocentric magic and African magic? What about Australasian magic?”

“Well, there are a lot of cultural differences, different gods, different rituals, different ways of connecting to magic. Of course, I am not an expert in other cultural magics. I’m really not much better than a beginner. I’m mostly self taught, since Nonna died. I’ve only really been able to learn from the family grimoire and some other tomes I picked up here and there. I have a lot of raw power without any of the theoretical knowledge.”

“You said Sue Clearwater was taking you under her wing?” Edward enquired from the couch. 

Bella nodded. “Yes, she has...magic of a kind herself. She can give me some training.”

The vampires shared a look. “What kind of magic?” 

“Well, she’s a Medicine Woman. She can tap into the magic of the land, the magic of nature. The Olde Magick. She won’t be teaching me any tribe secrets or anything, nothing that will make the Elders’ object. She’ll just be helping me control my magic better and understand the spirituality better.”

For some reason, that made all the vampires  _ visibly _ relax, despite them being, you know  _ vampires _ . It surprised Bella a little, but she decided to let it go...for now. 

“I’m glad you’re getting the guidance that you need.” Edward said cautiously.

Bella frowned. “Okay, what’s wrong with Sue Clearwater?”

Carlisle sighed, which seemed very out of character. “Bella…”

“Carlisle-” Edward started, but Carlisle cut him off with a look. 

“Bella is my mate, and the future co-leader of this coven. She is a part of this family, she deserves to know the truth.” 

Edward bowed his head in submission. 

“When we first came to Forks, the Quileute people saw us hunting, feeding from animals. They already knew what we were already, called us Cold Ones. However, when we showed them that we only drank from animals, a Treaty was struck. There would be peace between us if we promised to stay off their land and never bite a human. We aren't allowed anywhere near the reservation.”

“I have to ask, you are all very strong and powerful vampires, what could a tribe of humans do against you, even with magic?” Bella asked, confused. 

Carlisle took a deep breath. “Some of the men, generally from three main bloodlines, could shape-shift into gigantic wolves, their strength and speed can keep up even with Emmett. Both sides wanted to avoid bloodshed, if it came to battle, it wouldn’t be an easy battle for either side. Spirit Guardians, the tribe called them.”

Bella’s eyes were wide, alight with excitement. “That’s insanely cool. I’d heard that True Children of the Moon were hunted almost to extinction, but shape-shifters are almost as rare. I know witches that struggle to shape-shift. My Nonna could transform into a crow, but giant wolves? Genetic magic ability? That’s fascinating.” 

Carlisle’s heart melted, and he looked at her with the fondest expression. Alice giggled lightly and Jasper was shaking his head slightly, a wry grin on his face. Even Rosalie, who was ignoring them, had a faint smile on her face. 


End file.
